Time after Time
by Update Bug
Summary: In a world where 80% of humans are born with quirks Izuku is an anomaly. He's not human. Neither is his Mum. Without a quirk, and with the pressing need to keep his alien biology secret, Izuku is determined to become a hero and take his place at UA.
1. Chapter 1

_In another lifetime a newly diagnosed-quirkless Izuku would have trailed Katsuki into the woods, offered him his hand, and sparked to life a long growing superiority complex that would have burned between them for the next ten years._

 _This was not that life._

Deku was impossible to find.

If pressed, Katsuki would be unable to tell you just why he was putting so much effort into someone he had dubbed 'useless'. Maybe because he had never needed to look before. Deku was always just there, trailing behind him with that stupid grin and that stupid green hair.

It was starting to drizzle and Katsuki growled angrily, letting a series of little firecracker explosions burst in his hands. If he went through all this and then it turned out that Deku had got bored and gone back to Auntie Inko's house then Katsuki was going to explode him right in his stupid round face.

The rain was falling harder now and Katsuki glared up at is as he slipped across the river-bank mud and struggled to stay on his feet. He had just about decided to give up and leave Deku to it when he caught sight of a tell-tale flash of green on the bridge.

He scowled, shoving his wet fringe out of his eyes and stomping round to the steps.

"Oi, Deku!" He yelled, clearing the last step with what would have been a very impressive jump had anyone been paying attention.

Deku was perched on the bridge's railing, his back towards the water and his eyes vacant as they gazed off into the middle distance. His hands were bone white where they gripped the railing and he didn't even flinch when Katsuki came stomping over into his space.

Unlike Katsuki, Deku hadn't bought a waterproof out with him, so his small body was swamped in his too-large shirt and short combo that had already soaked through.

"…What are you doing out here?" Katsuki asked, squinting through the rain at Deku.

Deku didn't seem to have heard but after a moment Katsuki just managed to catch his mumbled 'nothing' before it was washed away by the rain.

"right." Katsuki crossed his arms and tilted his head back, ignoring the way that the movement dripped water into his eyes. "You sulking 'cause you're quirk hasn't come in yet? You know it doen't matter what you get right? It's never gonna be as awesome as mine."

"My quirk came in." Deku said. His voice didn't change. Neither did his face. There was none of the quirk-mad enthusiasm that Katsuki had come to expect from the other boy. He hadn't even turned to look at Katsuki yet, was still just staring blankly away.

"Well," Katsuki shuffled round so that he could lean against the rail next to Deku. "What'? wrong with it?"

"Nothing." Deku said, still distant. Still dead-eyed. "Quirk; analyse, it's an intelligence quirk."

Katsuki scrunched his face up. "That's lame…Better than no quirk at all though." Comforting did not come naturally to Katsuki, and the comment fell flat.

"It's not the quirk." Deku said.

Katsuki glared. Deku still wouldn't look at him and Operation; Face Explosion was looking more and more tempting by the minute. Katsuki was better than some stupid spot of air anyway.

"What is it then?" He demanded.

Deku's breath hitched and, for the first time, Izuku gave Katsuki his undivided attention. Katsuki froze. There was something in those eyes far, far older then their four years. Something sad, and grieving and lost. If Katsuki, at that age, had known the word Hiraeth he would have use it then. A homesickness for a place that had never been, or, would maybe never be again.

Izuku swayed on the railing and, for one long moment Katsuki thought he was going to fall. Thought that he would let himself tumble backward in the water and never be seen again. Then Katsuki's hand closed around his wrist.

"What are you doing?" He choked out. There was a tight knot in his throat that Katsuki would eternally deny feeling but that the more honest part of his brain would identify as fear. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Deku tilted his head up to the sky. His gaze locked onto one specific point, far, far in the distance. Further than any human could yet reach. Green eyes focussed with pinpoint accuracy not a set of coordinates that Katsuki would never identify if he heard them. A set of coordinated that Deku would never forget.

"It's quiet." Deku said eventually. His voice was perfectly even and unbearably small. The rain on his face could have been tears. "It's too quiet. I'm alone."

Katsuki didn't understand. He hated not understanding. But he stayed with Deku until the rain stopped. And then he stayed ten minutes more, until the water on Deku's face had dried.

The next day one of his random tag-alongs – the one with wings, Katsuki forgot the name – tried to make fun of Deku for his useless quirk.

Katsuki punched him in the face.

 _There was a door in the Midoriya's apartment that they never opened. When guests visited their eyes would skate right over, Katsuki had certainly never noticed it on one of his visits to 'Auntie Inko's' house. But the Midoriyas know that it is there. They always know that it is there._

 _They aren't really Midoriya's of course. He isn't Izuku. She isn't Inko. On the planet they were born on names were important, and they keep the ones their parents gave them close to their hearts._

 _Izuku is the name his mother gave him, shortly before choosing Inko for herself, only she wasn't his mother then, not yet, she was still his oldest sister who thought she knew everything and always got tasked with watching over the little ones._

 _She was the only one of them old enough to have chosen a name. Protector. Mother used to say that he had chosen too soon. Father used to say that she might as well have called herself 'The Babysitter' and been done with it. But it was the name she chose and she wore it well._

 _His other sister had never chosen. Neither had his brothers. They had been too young when they had burned with Gallifrey's fields. He barely remembered them. A flash of dark skin. The feel of long hair beneath his fingertips. Laughter and a woman crying. The taste of alkenan fruit, sharp and bitter on his tongue. The youngest had hated it. She had always had the sweetest tooth of all of them._

 _Names were important. The name you were given, the link to the past, and the name you chose, the link to the future you wanted to bring. They were a gift and a choice all at once, a self and a promise. The person you were and the person you wanted to be._

 _Izuku was named thrice over; Djed'an, Izuku and Deku. The parent, the sister, the friend._

 _But he had never chosen._

 _Names were important. Deciding which of his species' traits to pass off as his quirk had been a far easier choice to make._


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I know that Inko is slightly out of character at the moment but please remember that she is currently a heavily traumatised teenager, raising an equally traumatised child and that in their timeline the Time War happened within the last ten/fifteen years. By the time we get to actual cannon events she will have mellowed slightly into the Inko we all know and love.**

 **I decided to keep the Kaachan/Deku friendship because I'm just a sucker for childhood friends. Plus I think that Izuku is just different enough that Katsuku will react differently to him (especially having had the whole moment on the bridge). At the moment I'm just writing a bunch of childhood drabbles to sort out how Izuku and Inko's past has affected the world. When we get to UA we'll start having more plot, I promise.**

 **If there's anything you want to see/get an explanation for just let me know and i'll see if I can work it in.**

"You told him your Quirk was Analyse?" Inko asked. They were in the kitchen and she was dicing vegetables for dinner with the same restless energy that their father had had. "Oh, Izuku, I thought we'd agreed on Resilience."

Izuku didn't look up from the notebook that he was putting together, carefully threading thin loops of wire through the pages. "Momoji-Kun's mother had the baby." He said.

Inko winced, turning away from the chopping board and smoothing Izuku's fringe away from his forehead, a gentle brush of her mind against his accompanying the movement as she slid into the chair next to him. They didn't talk about the fifth sibling. The one that had never had a chance to be born. They didn't talk about Gallifrey at all.

"We'll have to change a few things round then, if Analyse is what you're going with." Inko said, waving a hand and letting the vegetables tip themselves into the boiling pot. "You'll need to start giving the clock a second turn before you leave the house. And, of course, we should think of some other schools for you to apply to."

"I want to go to UA."

There was a clatter as the chopping board fell, clipping the countertop and flipping onto the floor in a shower of vegetable confetti. Inko had gone pale, the dark hair that they shared standing stark against her face as she swayed slightly in the chair. Izuku imagined her could almost hear the way her two hearts had stuttered over a beat.

"It's too risky." She said. "Resilience would have covered up some of the more…obvious traits but you'll be under too much scrutiny. The clock can only hide so much and with a quirk that is solely mental there'll be no human explanation if you survive getting stuck in a blizzard, or electrocuted."

Izuku stayed quiet, His eyes taking on that big, soulful quality that never failed to make Inko feel like a monster. His mouth had tightened into its trademark stubborn line and Inko braced herself for one of their rare arguments.

"Mum was a hero." Izuku said quietly his tiny fingers picking at the wire of his latest project. It was the last thing that Inko had expected him to say.

"Mum was a _Time Lord_." Inko corrected. "It's not the same thing."

Izuku shook his head wildly. "It is. She helped people. I want to help people to. With a smile. So that they know everything is going to be alright. Why? Because I am here."

Inko winced, her eyes falling to the cheerfully yellow All Might stickers that Izuku had plastered all over his jumper. Mother had smiled as she pushed them onto the ship. The fires behind her had turned her hair to gold and she had smiled like her hearts were breaking as she locked the doors. It was Inko's last memory of her.

"If you do this, you're going to have to train for it." Inko finally allowed, ignoring Izuku's whoop of joy. "Everything that you do needs to appear one hundred percent human. I don't want to be explaining how you picked up telepathy or telekinesis to one of your teachers."

"Okay!" Izuku beamed, squinting at his notebook and then prodding it with a screwdriver that he pulled out of nowhere. What he was planning to do with a notebook of psychic paper Inko wasn't quite sure and wasn't entirely convinced that she wanted to know.

Inko ducked down to pick the knife and chopping board up off the floor and put them in the sink. Izuku appeared to be doodling something in his new psychic notebook. Inko couldn't see what it was but considering the copious amounts of red and yellow going into its creation she could probably make an educated guess.

"Mum," Izuku started slowly, swinging his legs back and forth. "Did you know that I'm the shortest in my class now?"

Inko smiled slightly, face turned firmly away so that Izuku wouldn't see. "Are you now?"

Izuku nodded vigorously. "Yep. Even the girls are all taller than me."

"Well," Inko said. "We should definitely do something about that then shouldn't we. How do you feel about spending a couple of summers on Twilight? I hear that the floating valleys are particularly beautiful at this time of year."

Izuku crowed and scrambled down from the table, running off to his room pack. Inko sighed and tugged their dinner off the stove. She'd have to dish it up to go.

Xxx

"Kaachan!"

Katsuki attempted to duck but was just a fraction of the second too slow as Deku collided with him, wrapping his arms around Katsuki's neck and draping himself all over his friend.

"Get off, you loser." Katsuki grumbled, tipping the other boy off his back and onto the floor.

"But I missed you!" Deku pouted up at him. "Didn't you miss me?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "It's been two days, you weirdo. God you're gonna be insufferable in the holidays."

"Yep." Deku agreed, bouncing to his feet and falling into place by Katsuki's side. Katsuki glanced over at him. That head of hair was looking a little taller than it usually did.

"Oi, nerd." Katsuki snapped, grabbing Deku in a headlock and scrubbing a hand through his hair in a rough noogie. "Did you get taller."

"Ow," Deku whined as he was dragged through the school gates. "Kaachan, let go."

"Guess you're still a loser, even with a quirk, huh Deku?"

Katsuki froze, eyes narrowing on the crowd of classmates that were loitering in the playground.

"What was that?" He barked, dropping Deku and stalking forward. "You idiots wanna go?"

Deku rolled his eyes, grabbing for Katsuki's arm before he could start knocking well-deserving heads together.

"C'mon Kaachan. I wanna talk about your quirk." He said, pulling him away and tugging out a notebook. "I've had some ideas since my quirk came in and I think if you try them out, you'll be way, way, cooler. Plus Mum wants me to start training so I'm gonna draw us up a programme."

Katsuki tuned Deku's rambling out and allowed himself to be dragged into the classroom, his red eyes still narrowed on the milling crowd of extras.

"Okay," He said. "What sort of ideas?"

Deku grinned.

Xxx

"What are we doing here?"

Izuku rolled his eyes as Kaachan bristled next to him.

"Training." Izuku explained, darting forwards between the large towers of rubbish that littered the beach. "We're gonna increase our strength, puzzle solving and en-dur-ance."

He loved this beach. His mum's salary wasn't exactly huge and you could get all sorts of stuff here without getting judgey looks and questions of 'how old he was'. He was nearly fifty, thank you very much. It's not like he was gonna _drink_ the alcohol, he just needed to extract the ethanol to power an engine he was making. Xalorfian crystals would have been better, but mum was being stingy about his creations having to be entirely earth-based from now on if he was aiming from UA.

"Are you just try'na con me into carrying your junk back for you?" Katsuki asked, prodding sceptically at one of the piles with his foot.

"Nu-uh." There was what looked like half a moped stuck buried beneath an old-timey television and a black binbag of questionable origin. "Cleaning the beach'll take a lot of heavy lifting and applied physics in figuring out how to split the piles without getting crushed."

Kaachan didn't look entirely convinced.

"Plus," Izuku added, tugging fruitlessly at the moped. He could definitely come up with some sort of thrust system for temporary flight. "There's so much stuff around that no one'll see you using your quirk."

Kaachan grinned his dangerous shark grin, red eyes flaring with bloodlust and cracking his knuckles. "Next time, start with that, Deku." He said, explosions sparking in his hands as he launched himself into the pile.


	3. Chapter 3

Age Eight

Izuku whined miserably as his alarm went off, clamping his pillow around his head and curling into a tiny ball that had his aching muscles whimpering in protest. One green eye appeared from the nest of blankets and pillows to stare mournfully at a clock that, impervious to his hatred, continued to ring.

"Izuku." Inko called from the kitchen. "I can hear you ignoring it."

"Urgh." Izuku grunted sliding out of the bed and stumbling into his clothes. Outside, the sun had clearly decided to have a lay in, thick clouds covered almost low enough to be fog and hung heavy against the sky. The air was damp and cold which, Izuku considered, might at least give him a slightly more even footing.

His school bag was pre-packed with his school clothes, books and whatever bits and bobs he was working on that week. A half-finished scanner rolled off the desk and onto the floor as he fumbled for the belt he had left next to it, sending a bundle of papers toppling over.

Inko laughed as he slumped into the kitchen, his unbrushed hair and the deep bruises beneath his eyes giving him the impression of a started racoon.

"Breakfast?" She asked, holding up a bowl.

Izuku shook his head, yawning loudly enough that his jaw clicked in protest. "I'm gonna be late and then Kacchan will murder me and you will never find my body."

Inko smiled and shoved a piece of toast into Izuku's hand, slipping two loaded lunchboxes into his bag while he was distracted, ruffling his hair to make it stand even more on end and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"I've invited the Bakugou's round for dinner, so remind Katsuki-chan to come round after school, the UA sports festival is showing today and I thought it might be nice to watch it all together."

"Uh-huh." Izuku agreed around a mouthful of toast, stuffing his feet into a pair of bright red trainers and heading for the door.

"A-hem." Inko coughed pointedly behind him. "Clock, Izuku."

Izuku groaned but stomped over to the Clock.

They kept the Clock on a shelf in the living room. It dominated the room, a large wooden thing that drew every eye in the room to it. The dark wood was covered in smooth circular patterns, etched in delicate gold and unintelligible as writing to anyone but a Gallifreyan. The Clock had three faces stacked like a pyramid, the largest balanced at the very top and eternally frozen at three minutes past five.

The face on the left was his. Out of habit, rather than any genuine worry, Izuku felt himself glance around to make sure there was no one who could see and then flipped open the glass face. The clock glowed slightly as Izuku wound it back twice, shuddering as the illusion settled over his bones in a greasy film.

He glanced at the only working clockface and yelped in shock. "I'm gonna be so late!"

He darted round Inko, pressing a brief kiss to her cheek and then sprinted out of the apartment. Kacchan was going to kill him!

 _The Clock wasn't like a Chameleon Arch. Not really. Their mother had barely been able to secure them a TARDIS, she hadn't exactly been able to fill it with everything they might need. The clock was Inko's invention. A hybridisation of Timelord tech that she scraped together from the TARDIS' many rooms._

 _It didn't change their biology or alter their memories. Not in the way a Chameleon Arch did. It didn't change them at all. It was more like a perception filter, encouraging people to gently look away from anything that didn't quite fit. Humans are very good at convincing themselves of the impossibility of their senses, the Clock just played on that. It meant that Inko could go to the Doctor's and her double pulse would never be noticed. It meant that Izuku could be just a bit too intelligent in a way that his 'quirk' didn't cover and no one would think it odd._

 _But it didn't last for long. On turn for six hours, two for twelve. It meant that Izuku had always was always too sick to attend school trips, that he could never spend the night at a friends or invite a friend back to his. Not without risk. In a way, his unpopularity was a blessing. Less people to notice something was different about them._

"DIE!"

Izuku dropped to his knees, rolling beneath a pile of rubbish and covering his head as an explosion rocked the beach where he had just been standing.

He blinked the flashes of light out of his eyes and squinted at a fuming Kacchan, who was bristling aggressively, a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Come on out, Deku!" Kacchan yelled. "You're always hiding. You think you're gonna stand next to me at UA? You'd better start acting like it."

Izuku wriggled further into his pile of rubbish. There was a car nearby and he waited until Kacchan was examining a slightly wobbling pile across the way and then lunged, yanking the door open and closing it behind him a quietly as he could.

Fighting Kacchan was always too difficult head-on. It was cold, so at least Kacchan wouldn't be sweating so much. And Izuku did have that new trick he was planning to try out today which, hopefully, Kacchan wouldn't be expected. Of course, the hothead had to go and be super smart on top of being super strong. Having time to plan didn't necessarily mean anything when the blond was working off his own strategy. He was prowling around the small clearing that they had made in the trash, occasionally firing off a small explosion. Izuku winced. Him being late had clearly hacked the other boy off more than he'd thought.

Kacchan was getting closer to the car that he was hiding in. Izuku swallowed, reaching into one of the pouches on his laden belt and pulling out a collapsible baton. He curled his hand around the door latch as the shadow grew closer.

"Found you." Kacchan snarled.

Instantly, Izuku slammed the door open, barely missing a Kacchan that had leapt backwards out of the way as Izuku threw himself out of the car, lashing out with his baton in a swipe that almost blacked Kacchan's eye.

Kacchan turned the movement into a backwards roll, kicking out with both feet and catching Izuku with a solid blow to the chest. Izuku wheezed around suddenly empty lungs as he was sent reeling back into the car behind him. He rolled out of the way just in time, as Kacchan's fist hit the place his head had just been with a resounding bang.

"Wow, Kacchan," Izuku quipped as he scrambled up and onto the top of the car. "That is some serious, unresolved anger. You should really get that seen to."

"Why don't you come on down and I'll see to it right now." Kaachan promised, the glint of future violence in his eyes.

"Yeah…no." Izuku said, his eyes scanning the garbage around him for a clear route. He knew where he had to go. It was just a case of getting there.

Kaachan grimaced, forehead crumpling up in concentration, and then he fired off a small explosion right at his feet, the force sending him tumbling upwards in a barely controlled flip.

"Ah." Izuku said as Kaachan landing in a wobbly, but still upright, crouch right in front of Izuku.

Okay. Planning time was over then.

Metal dug into Izuku's palms as he launched himself from the car into a flat out run. His hearts were thumping heavily in his chest and his throat burned as he dragged air into it. The extra oxygen gave him a slight edge against a normal human. But this was Kacchan he was talking about. The boy was a monster. Behind him he could hear the unsteady splutter of explosives, the tell-tale sign that Kaachan was using his new trick to speed himself up.

"C'mon Deku!" Kacchan yelled. "Give me a proper fight."

Izuku ducked left, dodging the rusted spokes of an abandoned umbrella. Almost there.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Even through his shirt the heat was unbearable and Izuku twisted out of the grip, skittering away and pausing in from of a gently swaying stack of bike parts and scrap metal.

"Nowhere to run now, Deku." Kacchan said, sparks crackling in his palms as he lowered his centre of gravity, disguising where he would lunge from.

Izuku narrowed his eyes and mirrored his position. He slid one hand behind his back, reaching into the pouch that he had unzipped while in the car. His fingers touched cloth and he was careful to keep the triumphant expression off his face.

Kacchan's grin twitched, a tell he hadn't quite managed to stamp out, and then he lunged. Heat blasted Izuku's face and then he dodged, swinging round to the side and looping the length of grey fabric around Kacchan's wrist. He yanked, tugging the arm to the side and kicking out at Kacchan's leg. Unable to stop it, the explosion went off, the force slamming right where Izuku had aimed it – into the side of the teetering tower.

"Oh shi –" Kacchan muttered as the tower wobbled and then fell, collapsing down towards them. Izuku slid the fabric tighter and ran, Kacchan not even attempting to resist as they sprinted away from the avalanche of rubbish.

The pile crashed into the ground with an earth-splitting crash, sending up a cloud of dust and broken things as Izuku and Kacchan just managed to avoid the pile, Izuku managing to control their fall so that he ended up on top, Kacchan's still-bound arm pressed up against the small of his back.

Kacchan swore and wriggled but was unable to break free.

"Yield." Izuku commanded, his voice scratchy against the need to cough.

"Screw you!" Kacchan ground out.

"Yield." Izuku demanded, pulling the other boy's arm further up his back.

"Fine." Kacchan mumbled into the ground, shrugging Izuku off him as he finally loosed his grip.

Izuku giggled, landing in a sweaty exhausted head on his back. Kacchan looked just as reluctant to move, a smear of dirt across his cheek and blonde hair almost a shade darker from the dirt that had been ground into it.

"One-nil to me." Izuku chirped, the extra effort it took to be cheerful well worth it for the disgruntled expression on Kacchan's face.

"Yeah, on Monday." Kaachan said. "We'll see how smug you are on Saturday when I've won the other four."

"You can try." Izuku said. "You're still giving away your movements though, and I could hear you loosing speed on the sharp turns. You need to use the moment to swing yourself into the turn, not just slow down and restart."

"Yeah well, your plans still depend too much on knowing your environment. That trick wouldn't have worked if you hadn't had somewhere to lead me and, it's never gonna work again."

"I know." Izuku grumbled. That was the problem with Kacchan. Idiot always found someway to mess up a working system. Izuku had really thought he's been onto something when he'd started bringing a water pistol filled with lye to the fights. It had neutralised Kacchan's nitro-glycerine and worked a grand total of twice before Kacchan had started decanting his sweat into glass bottles and making some, frankly horrifying, mini Molotov cocktails.

"This is new though." Kacchan said, holding up the thin bandage-like material. Izuku brightened. He had made it himself, weaving thin metal wires into the cloth for flexibility and durability.

"Do you like it? It was inspired by the underground hero Erazerhead's costume. His is more versatile but I didn't really have the materials and mum says I can't weld in the apartment anymore cause the neighbours complained…"

His rambling was cut off by the familiar ring of the school bell. Red eyes met green, both widened in horror.

"I thought you set an alarm?" Izuku spluttered.

"Me? Why would I set an alarm? I thought you set an alarm!" Kacchan said. He lunged to his feet, dragging Izuku up with him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him after him. The two figures soon vanished into the distance, the loud sound of Kacchan berating Izuku trailing after them.

Sometime later a heavily muscled blonde would wander passed the beach and take a moment to be surprised by the newly rearranged rubbish, though it would be years before he would discover the cause.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Age Nine

Time lines were beautiful.

In class Izuku found his eyes drifting along them without even thinking about it. Most of his classmates only had one or two. Momiji was tangled up in his little sister's, the thin wisps of a burgeoning life creeping out in strands of purple and maroon to curve around his own. Kanaki's curled from her throat in spider thin webs that unfurled into the future where they bulged into thick chains and ropes.

Most of the people in his class had thin time lines, the small tales of their individual lives patterning the air around the and stretching forwards and backwards, tangling in others and converging on the most significant points of their lives.

Some had more.

There was an old man who worked in a sweet store two roads down from where Izuku lived. One of his great, great, great grandchildren would help design the engine fuel that would make it possible for humans to travel into space. The echoes of this travelled back and curled around him and his wife, butting against their clasped hands like a house-cat, desperate for attention.

Kacchan was the worst though. So bursting with potential that sometimes it was hard to even make out his face through the coiling layers of possible futures curling across his skin. Mum had warned him about looking to closely at people whose futures were so wound up with his own but sometimes it was hard not to peek. He never saw much anyway. It was harder for Time Lords to see futures that involved themselves. All he got was glimpses. The whirr of mechanics. The bitter smell of smoke and a burst of heat. Gunmetal glasses, the feeling of rocks on skin and an inexplicable burst of pink.

"Oi, weirdo, you're staring again." Kacchan whispered, flicking an eraser at his head.

Izuku ducked but managed to pull his gaze away from Kacchan, blinking furiously until the cobwebs dissolved out of the corners of his eyes. To avoid the temptation of looking again Izuku fixed his gaze firmly on the window, loosing himself in the blue cloudless sky.

"…Midoriya?"

"Five hundred and sixty-two point four." Izuku answered absently, propping his head on his hands. It would be Sakura season soon and the trees lining the school fence were starting to bud. The picturesque scene was made even better by the small black cat that had clambered into the fork of a branch and was relaxing on the bark, its tail tick-tick-tocking in the air beneath it.

…that was not a cat.

Izuku stiffened, elbow sliding off his desk with a clatter that was thankfully hidden by the sound of the lunch bell ringing.

Izuku scrambled for his books, knocking a pen onto the floor in his haste and almost tripping over his feet in his attempt to pick it up.

Kacchan rolled his eyes, slinging his bag over one shoulder. "You alright, nerd?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." Izuku said, cramming the last bit of paper into his bag. "You should go along to lunch, I'll catch up, there's just a couple of bits that I've got to do."

Narrowed red eyes scanned him up and down before apparently coming to a decision. "Okay. Try not to get lost again."

Izuku spluttered in offence. "That was one time!" He shouted at Kacchan's retreating back.

"Twice." Kacchan tossed over his shoulder.

Izuku rolled his eyes, shooting a shifty look around to see where everyone else had gone. The teacher, the only one left in the room, raised one eyebrow at him. Izuku gave him a nervous smile and slid out of the room.

Xxx

"Hey," Izuku hissed, ducking down behind a bush and peering up into the tree. "Hey, down here."

A fuzzy black head peaked through a splattering of leaves, needle-sharp teeth bared in warning.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Izuku said. Up close, the _cat_ didn't look much like a cat. It was a similar size and had the same slit pupils, it even had triangular eyes, though they were more delicate and prehensile than that of an average cat. They flicked forwards as Izuku spoke, the alien shifting forwards on his perch until Izuku could make out the thin fingers and delicate nails that were more like miniature hands than any cats paw could ever be.

Warmth batted at Izuku's mind, a strange curious sensation that was both like and unlike when his older sister brushed her mind against his. The feeling came with a sharp almost smell and a feeling of absolute curiosity that had Izuku grinning gently and holding out his hand.

"It's alright, I know what you are. From the boanjiji galaxy, right? Planet Clox? Or was it AgarooO?" Izuku asked, wincing at the feeling of claws on skin as the alien skittered down his arm and curled around his chest.

"The one thing I don't get," Izuku murmured, scratching at the creatures fifth vertebrae and feeling it go boneless and relaxed against him. "Is how you ended up here. Your species have a hive structure, right? Why would you be here, all on your own?"

The creature let out a little distressed chirrup that vibrated through its ribs and trembled against Izuku's two hearts. It butted its head against his chin, burying its head in the crook of Izuku's neck. The force against his mind pulled into new shapes. The shape of rough hands and colder cages, of being loaded into shiny, shiny rooms that jolted and jerked. Of fire and falling and a crash that left the FriendFamilyChatteringOtherSelves still and cold and quiet.

Izuku flinched away from the empty quiet. It was too familiar.

"Okay." Izuku settled back against the tree, slumping down slightly to make certain that the two of them were hidden behind the bushes and pressing the alien close to his skin. It had been such a long time since he had tried to touch anyone but his sister's mind. It was just like riding a bike, though.

Izuku shuffled against the ground until he was comfortable. He closed his eyes and let a wave of contentment and safety overflow, relaxing himself as the creature went boneless against him and slumped completely against him.

Xxx

Deku had gone and gotten himself lost. _Again._ Katsuki frowned, scanning the dining room for the fifth time and still not catching sight of that tell-tale head of green hair.

He bit an angry bite out of his cookie. Technically it was Izuku's cookie. But Cookies were for people who didn't wander off and get lost in their own heads.

"Idiot." Katsuki muttered, spraying cookie crumbs and taking another angry bite. Some of the Extras had wandered over and were taking advantage of Deku's absence to attempt to get close to him. Spewing meaningless platitudes and trying desperately to get some of his awesome to rub off on their useless selves.

They didn't usually come over when Deku was nearby. Analysing Quirks tended to make people uncomfortable and Deku had a way of absentmindedly sharing the things that people were trying to hide without even realising what he was doing. Not that Katsuki needed Deku to keep the losers away. He could blow them away without breaking a sweat. It was just that Mum had been nagging and nagging and nagging about 'keeping control of his temper' and 'using his words'.

She'd even recruited Deku and Auntie Inko into it and, much as Katsuki enjoyed beating down the worthless extras there was just something about those watery green eyes that Katsuki was weak to. Stupid Deku. It took all the fun out of a good fight when that loser was hanging onto his coattails and spewing a bunch of crap about being nice.

"We should go to the arcade after school –"

"Yeah whatever." Katsuki brushed him off, standing up and scooping up his bag, cramming a box of juice into his pocket so he would have something to chuck at Izuku's head when he found him. He carefully ignored the fact that he'd made sure to scoop up Izuku's favourite flavour of apple and raspberry.

He managed to stalk off before anyone could decide to follow and shoved his hands into his pockets with an unconcerned air.

Deku was definitely not inside. He'd checked. Plus, if Deku was going to hole himself up in on of the classrooms and read one of his massive books or tinker with some of his inventions he'd have given Katsuki a heads up.

Izuku acting squirrelly and scooting off when his back was turned meant that he would turn up hanging upside down from a fence or wind up on the roof missing his shirt and one sock. And that meant that he would be somewhere outside.

Katsuki scanned the edges of the school courtyard. Nope. Nope. Nop – Ah!

There it was, the tell-tale green, just visible behind a bush.

"Oi," Katsuki yelled, stomping over. He hoped that Izuku hadn't seen another interesting toadstool or some crap. It was so annoying when he did that. "Where have you bee –"

Izuku looked up, eyes wide and face instantly paling five shades.

There was a, a _thing_ clutched in his arms, dark furred and human-limbed with a dry scaly tail.

That wasn't the main thing he noticed though. There were pinpricks of blood along Izuku's left arm where it had been scratched and the tell-tale pinch around his eyes of someone holding back tears.

"What the Fuck?" Katsuki barked, jumping backwards and letting explosions crackle in his palms which he raised threateningly.

"What are you - ?" Deku started but Katsuki was beyond listening.

There was blood on Deku's arm.

That _thing_ had made him bleed.

Katsuki met a pair of wide, yellow eyes and sharp teeth with a snarl of his own.

"Get the Fuck away from Deku!"


	5. Chapter 5

Age Nine

 **Not gonna lie. This chapter was like pulling teeth. Technically this is part one of Chapter five but it was getting a bit long and I wanted to get it up so you can expect part two in a couple of days. Katsuki wasn't actually supposed to find out about any of this until UA but then the little prick insisted on inserting himself in the last chapter so now I guess this is how we're doing it.**

"Kacchan, Don't!" Izuku yelped, startling backwards at Kacchan's angry snarl and clutching _WarmthOnFurSaltOnBreezeSandOnWhiskers_ close.

"Get away from it, Deku." Kacchan snapped, angling forwards like he was calculating the best wat to snatch it out of Izuku's arm. "Get behind me, I'll deal with it."

"I won't let you hurt him!" Izuku yelled, one hand scrambling for the sonic pen his mum insisted that he keep in his blazer pocket.

Kacchan snarled again, explosions popping in his hands with his anger. "It hurt you. I'm gonna kill it."

"I'm not hurt!" Izuku protested and scrambled to his feet, shielding the creature with his blazer.

Kacchan paused, head tilted like he could not believe that absolute stupidity that he was hearing. "Deku, you're bleeding."

Izuku frowned, "No I'm not."

Kacchan sighed and then lunged forwards faster than Izuku could follow, grabbing his wrist and yanking his arm out in front of him.

"Oh," Izuku muttered, staring down at the smear of blood on his forearm and abruptly remembering the pinpricks of pain of the creature had left as it scrambled down his arm and out of the tree. "It was an accident, he didn't mean to."

Kacchan dropped his arm and cocked his head to his side, examining the alien's fluffy ears with a hostile curiosity. Thankfully for Izuku's wrist he had stopped spitting small explosions from his palms. For Kacchan this was basically calm.

"What is it, then?" Kaachan asked. "Quirk animal?"

"Yes!" Izuku exclaimed, grabbing at the excuse. "Quirk animal. Probably a cat, or a small mammal such as a racoon that had been physically altered by his quirk."

Kacchan's frown got deeper and even more angry. "You're a terrible liar." He said, ignoring Izuku's disgruntled 'am not'. "What is it really then?"

Izuku winced and patted at _WarmthOnFurSaltOnBreezeSandOnWhiskers'_ flank for comfort. Kacchan was technically right. Izuku tended to be far better at omission than outright lies. Plus it's not like people regularly asked if he was one of the last members of an extinct alien race. It's not something he really had to lie about.

"What are you hiding?" Kacchan demanded bristling even further. "You've always been a weirdo. Even before your Quirk came in. But if magic animals or some crap are gonna start showing up all the time you'd better tell me what's going on."

"It's not magic." Izuku sighed, relaxing his grip and letting _WarmthOnFurSaltOnBreezeSandOnWhiskers_ climb up to curl around his neck like a bizarre and seasonally inappropriate scarf. "And it's not a Quirk either. It's a mixture of higher intelligence, in depth knowledge of advanced technology and a slight telepathic field. I'm not human."

"Bull." Kacchan snorted. "I've known you since you were four. You're pretty damn human."

Izuku shook his head sharply. Now that he was speaking it seemed easy. It seemed to want to just come out. "No, you've known me since I was twenty-six. I'm currently Fifty-three. Mum is two hundred and thirty-one. She'll be an adult in nineteen more years by my people's reckoning."

"Right." Kacchan raked a hand through his hair, tugging on the blonde spikes hard enough that even Izuku winced in pain. "And how exactly did you cram twenty-seven years into five?"

Almost despite himself Izuku found himself grinning shyly. "Come 'round to mine and I'll show you."

Xxx

The apartment was empty when they got back to it. Mum was working at a nursery during the days now so there was no one to call welcome home when he slid the key into the lock. Of course, this also meant that there was no one there to catch him and Kacchan sneaking in during school hours.

"And you're sure this isn't going on my permanent record?"

"Yes Kacchan," Izuku sighed for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Cause if this messes up my chances at UA –"

"I know Kacchan," Izuku rolled his eyes. "I'll hack the records tomorrow. Your attendance will be spotless as ever."

Kacchan grunted, peering suspiciously around before kicking off his shoes and dropping his bag by the front door with the familiarity of a frequent guest. "So, where's this magical explanation then?"

Instead of answering Izuku flipped his sonic pen out of his pocket, pointing it at the Clock. He pressed a button on the side and, with a faint buzz, the crystal jutting out of the top light up bright green. The clock groaned and then rewound with a twang of springs. Izuku shivered as the cloak dropped. The prickling sensation was as unpleasant as ever.

"Yay." Kacchan drawled, "You broke a clock."

Izuku rolled his eyes again, grabbing Kacchan's hand and slapping it against his chest. Kacchan opened his mouth but then froze, squinting down at Izuku's chest where, unhidden, his double hearts were strumming away.

"You have two hearts."

"Yup." Izuku agreed. Kacchan was starting to look a little fuzzy around the edges. Izuku hoped he hadn't broken him.

"Breaking a clock gave you two hearts."

Izuku grinned, "No. The clock was a perception filter. Sort of like a cloaking devise? It makes me and mum seem human."

Kacchan frowned, "Like in Star Wars or something?"

Izuku blinked in shock and then blinked a second time for luck. "You've seen Star Wars?"

"No." Kacchan blurted and Izuku was just kind enough not to point out that his ears were glowing faintly pink.

"So," Kacchan said. "You're an alien."

"Yeah."

"And that thing's an alien too."

"He's not a thing. He has a name it's…" Izuku paused. Non-telepathic languages were just so limiting. No wonder humans were always bickering when they couldn't just press their meaning into someone else's mind. How did you define a name that was made up of scents and feelings? Warmth and sand and salt. "I guess the closest word would be Beach."

"Beach?"

"Oh sorry, Burst. Is his name funny to you?"

Kacchan cracked his knuckles in a wordless threat and the newly renamed Beach hissed lowly from Izuku's shoulder, eyes taking on a poisonous green cast.

Kacchan narrowed his eyes back before directing his attention back to Izuku. "Okay then, you're an alien. What happens now?"

"Now?" Izuku asked. "Now I guess we get this little guy home."

"Right." Kacchan folded his arms. "And how're we gonna do that?"

Izuku grinned.

Xxx

"I am on an alien planet."

Izuku grinned wider.

"I am on a fucking alien planet." Kacchan exclaimed spinning in a circle on the silver sands. Above them the two green suns were beginning to set.

Beach jumped lightly onto the sands, letting out a happy chirrup and rolling not his back, stretching happily along the sands.

"I cannot believe that you could have brought me to an alien planet at _any_ time and you didn't. I am so hacked off with you right now."

Izuku dropped to his knees next to Beach and ran his fingers through his fur. He'd be more concerned about that but the grin on Kacchan's face was so wide that it could probably be seen back on earth.

Behind them the TARDIS door jutted out of the earth. It was bizarre. A single white painted door just sticking out of the ground on its own. The door was still slightly ajar and through it you could catch a glimpse of the copper and amethyst control panel, pulsing faintly as the TARDIS kept itself in place. Kacchan had moved on from spinning in circles and was pacing around the doorframe, waving his hand in the empty space behind the door where the console room should be.

The sand beneath Izuku's body was warm, some sort of mineral composition that couldn't be found on earth. Izuku ran his fingers across it, feeling the harsh pricks of what was undoubtably eroded rock. He thought mum had brought him here once, a long time ago, when he'd needed to fake another growth spurt.

Kacchan finally stopped his spinning, flinging himself down onto the ground next to Izuku and sending up a cloud of silver dust. "How many alien planets have you been to?"

"952."

"Really?"

"Nah," Izuku ducked out of the way of Kacchan's swipe. "I didn't really keep count. Plus, some of them I was pretty young. Mum could probably tell you better."

"So, what was the –"

"Shhhhhh." Izuku hissed frantically, lunging forwards and scanning the dunes. He could have sworn he'd seen something move.

On his lap Beach had also gone stiff, his ears and whiskers pricking straight upwards, a soft chirping noise ticking way in the back of his throat.

"What?" Kacchan asked, eyes narrowing defensively and body tensing for a fight.

"Look there." Izuku whispered, pointing out across the dunes where a single, dark grey head had pocked out of a cleverly hidden hole and was staring in their direction, whiskers tick-tocking from side to side as it evidently tried to get a feel from them.

Beach chirruped loudly, wiggling out of Izuku's lap and onto the sand, wiggling his tail and calling again. More heads began to appear along the dunes and with each one Beach got more excited and wriggly, almost spinning in circles where he stood.

"Go on then." Izuku nudged Beach's back lightly. "They're waiting."

Beach turned back, almost folding in on himself to nuzzle gently against Izuku's fingers, pressing gratitude-safety-warmth-thanks into Izuku's mind. He paused once more to give his tail a disdainful flick in Kacchan's direction and then, ignoring the snarl it got him, Beach was off, dashing across the sand like lighting above waves.

His family ran to meet him. They collided at the halfway point, rolling across the sand in a unbreakable bundle of fur and limbs and radiated Joy. Beach turned back, chirruping a goodbye and then they were gone, disappearing just as quickly as they had come.


	6. Chapter 6

Age Nine

 **Here is the promised second part of chapter Five. Next chapter we will be doing another time jump, straight up to episode one of Boku No Hero where the real fun can begin. Er, for this chapter there is a slight warning for attempted drugging of a minor. Like nothing I would consider triggering but just in case.**

"Izuku, Katsuki, welcome home!"

Deku flinched and fumbled the TARDIS keys, dropping them onto the carpet and scrambling to slam the door shut.

"Mum, you're home early." Izuku said, his voice high pitched and panicky in what was possibly the least inconspicuous way possible. "She is home early, right?" Izuku hissed "I didn't mess up the controls and drop us like a week forwards?"

"That was possibility?" Katsuki hissed back, eying the kitchen door warily.

"Not much of one."

"Yes, I am home early." Aunty Inko called back, cutting up their hissed argument before Katsuki could lose his temper and bonk Deku on his head. "I got a warning on the TARDIS alarms, so I told my boss I wasn't feeling well and headed back. I'm in the kitchen."

"Okay." Izuku called back, glancing between Katsuki and the Kitchen and the door like he was judging the odds of sneaking him out before his mum noticed. Katsuki shrugged.

"Bring Katsuki in too, I've made drinks."

"Right, we're coming." Izuku called, grabbing Katsuki by the wrist and dragging him into the room.

Auntie Inko was standing over by the hob. There was something warm and cinnamony simmering away in a saucepan and Inko was using her … not a Quirk … to stir it with a wooden spoon. Hr face lit up when she saw them.

"Izuku, Katsuki, you're okay." She said bustling forwards and cupping Izuku's face in her hands and pressing their foreheads together. She brushed a hand across Katsuki's hair and then darted back over to the stove, picking two mugs out of the cupboard and pouring a healthy dose of warm milk into them both.

"Sit, sit." She said, waving them towards the table and putting the mugs in front of them. She slid the one on the left closer towards Katsuki, watching anxiously as he glanced down at it. Sweet things weren't really his favourite.

"It will help with the shock." Auntie Inko said reassuringly, "I imagine some of the things that you experienced today must have been a bit of a surprise."

Katsuki nodded slightly and lifted the mug to his lips, watching Auntie Inko and Izuku from beneath his lashes.

"I didn't know the TARDIS had alarms!" Izuku said. "How come you never –"

Whatever he was about to say next Katsuki didn't hear because that was about the same time he dropped his mug and slipped sideways off his chair to collapse on the Kitchen floor.

XXX

Okay, so here's the thing, Katsuki wasn't fucking stupid, right? He was a shoo-in for UA, he had the best Quirk and some of the highest grades in his school. Like, yeah, he might have missed one or two things about Izuku, but he dared anyone to notice that their best friend was weird and jump to the conclusion that aliens were part of the reason.

Here's the thing. Auntie was being way, way too calm. Two years ago, Him and Deku had climbed this really high tree down by the park. One of the branches had snapped, Deku had lost a tooth and Katsuki had scrapped all up one side. Auntie had been beside herself, scolding them between sobs and making them swear to never ever, ever, do anything like that again. It had worked. They never had.

Now, they took a joyride in a time travelling spaceship and Auntie was just fine with it? No. Katsuki didn't buy it. Her hands had trembled as she nudged the drink towards him and her eyes had stared at him a bit too long as she waited for him to fake that first sip.

"Mum! What did you do?" Deku yelped.

On the floor Katsuki kept his eyes closed tight, hiding his smirk of satisfaction in the floor. He'd guessed right.

"I'm sorry." Aunty Inko sniffled. There was a rustle of cloth as she hid her face in her hands and Katsuki was suddenly filled with relief that he was faking unconsciousness. "I had too."

"What did you give him?" Deku asked, dropping to his knees next to Katsuki and prodding at him with worried fingers. Katsuki flinched as he brushed over a ticklish spot and tried his hardest to stay completely still.

"Retcon 3.0, He'll wake up tomorrow morning with a light fever and no memory of the past twelve hours."

"How could you –"

"It is dangerous Izuku!" Inko snapped, the chair clattering to the floor as she jumped to her feet and slammed her hands onto the table. "They are still out there. Do you know how valuable Time Lords are in some parts of the Universe? The more people who know, the riskier it is. For you and him! Did you even think of that when you told him! What were you thinking?"

"I didn't mean too! It just –" Great, Izuku was crying now too. "There was an alien and he saw us and I just didn't"

"Oh Izu." Inko whispered kneeling down beside them and gathering Izuku into a hug. "Come here."

Xxx

 _They had stayed on Beach's planet until the second sun had started to set, the green sun painting blue and yellow streaks across the darkening sky._

 _It was incredible. The stars were different here and there was no moon. He thought he could recognise a couple of constellations but they were all back to front and lopsided, or even spaced out funny, further gaps between them then h thought there should be._

 _The sand was coarser that the stuff on earth, plus it was this odd silver colour that shivered white in the light of the stars. Izuku was quiet beside him, his legs kicked out in front of him and his arms behind him propping him up on his elbows._

" _This is so cool." Katsuki murmured._

" _Yeah." Izuku whispered back._

 _Katsuki leaned forwards. "You have a spaceship. A real genuine space ship."_

 _Izuku laughed. "Yeah, I do."_

" _How on earth did you wind up in Japan of all places?"_

 _Izuku froze, shrinking in on himself and dropping his head back to stare upwards like he always did when he was upset. He'd never thought of that before. That Izuku might be looking for something._

" _Do you see that?" Izuku asked gesturing upwards._

 _Katsuki squinted. "See what?"_

" _That star, the really bright one over on the right with a reddish tinge."_

 _Katsuki finally identified it, hovering just above the wonky Orion's belt. It was pretty small, almost pure white with a ring or red surrounding it. "Yeah, I've got it."_

 _He would have added something else. A quip or an insult but there was something in Izuku's voice that made him old. The same thing he'd heard over and over again after that first time on the bridge the day Izuku told him about his quirk._

" _We called it The Solitract Star, after some legend my people used to tell each other. A bedtime story," Izuku's voice wavered for a moment. "It was my little sister's favourite. She made dad tell it every night no matter how much our brothers complained. It doesn't exist anymore. We can only see it 'cause we're so far away. The light from the explosion still hasn't reached us."_

 _Izuku faltered, his eyes welling with tears that he didn't let fall and trembling all over like a leaf._

" _What happened?" Katsuki whispered._

" _There was a war." Izuku let the statement fall into the air like a gravestone. Bleak and empty. "We lost."_

 _And Izuku crumbled._

Xxx

Katsuki wasn't stupid, right?

He kept himself limp as Deku and Auntie picked him up and put him in the car and drove him 'round the corner to his house and tucked him into bed.

Auntie had said 'light fever' so the next day he'd shoved his head up against a radiator until just before his mum had come before work. Of course when he didn't even protest having to stay home his Dad had declared it an actual medical emergency and called in to work to watch him.

It was a blow to his record. But he'd get into UA even if he did miss one day in elementary school.

The next day he met Deku at the crossroads just like usual.

"Oi!" He yelled. Thumping Deku lightly on the back with his bag. "Just 'cause I missed one day at the beach doesn't mean you're gonna have another win. I will own you tomorrow morning."

"Kacchan!" Deku whined, rubbing the back of his head and peering up at him with big, watery and, above all else, _guilty,_ eyes.

"Urgh." Katsuki groaned. "Don't go getting all soft on me. It was a cold. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Izuku said peering up at him.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Sure, I'm gonna beat you to class." And then he took off.

"Hey Kacchan! No Fair!" Deku whined, sprinting after him.

Katsuki wasn't an idiot.

If it was dangerous for anyone to know?

Then no one was gonna know.


	7. Chapter 7

Age Fourteen

"Alright kids, you guys are all third years now and that means you need to start thinking seriously about your futures!"

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the teacher's theatrics, scribbling a few more notes in his book about the villain fight he had seen that morning.

"Every year we hand out these Future Career Forms to the graduating class. I could hand them out to you right now. But, I won't."

And there it was, Izuku scoffed, scratching some shading across Kamui Wood's wooden arms. Typical.

"Because I assume that you all want to be HEROES!" The teacher finished, tossing the papers into the air as the class erupted into cheers. Quirks erupted across the room, body parts shrinking and swelling and mutating as the class violated multiple laws to demonstrate their quirks in a public place. Admittedly, Izuku couldn't really talk considering what he and Kacchan got up to every other day, but still.

"Don't lump me in with these losers, Teach." Kacchan snapped, kicking his feet up on the desk and crossing his arms, his head thrown back proudly. "I'm not just gonna be any other hero. I'm gonna be Number One! And Number One's go to U.A.!"

Izuku shrunk down at his proclamation. The room had burst into chatter at the mention of U.A. his classmates all whispering about how hard it was to get in and the superiority of their graduates. Every whisper seemed to inflate Kacchan's head more and Izuku could almost feel the seconds ticking down until the attention was turned onto him.

"That reminds me," The teacher said. Izuku winced. Their teacher had a mild speed Quirk and an obvious inferiority issue that he tended to take out on anyone in the class whose quirk he deemed as weaker than his. "Midoriya, you were thinking of applying to U.A. too weren't you?"

There was a beat of silence as every face in the room turned to look at Izuku. Izuku slammed his head into the desk and wrapped his arms around it. Then the room burst into laughter.

"You know good grades aren't all you need right, Mido?" Someone crowed.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do with an analysis Quirk?" Ryouta asked. "Bore them to death?"

"Hey shut up!" Kacchan exploded, literally, slamming his palms onto his desk and filling the room with the acrid smell of charred wood. "You worthless extras didn't even have the guts to put U.A on your application forms. Izuku is gonna get into U.A. if I have to drag him there myself. And all you losers are gonna be eating your words!"

"Sit down, Bakugou." Their teacher snapped. "Quirk use is forbidden, remember."

Kacchan scoffed and lumped back into his chair, still glaring daggers around the room at anyone who so much as looked at Izuku funny.

Izuku tore a back page out of his Hero Analysis book and scribbled a quick; _Notice he didn't say anything about quirks when the rest were going crazy,_ on it before flicking it over onto Kacchan's desk.

Kacchan smirked and started scribbling something else down on it. Judging for the wideness of the smirk it was very, very rude.

Spending the rest of the lesson flicking notes between the two of them did make it pass a lot more quickly though. Plus trying to get them past the increasingly suspicious looking teacher was almost challenging.

Xxx

"So, it's almost graduation." Kacchan mused, bag flung over one shoulder and eyes gazing up at the cloudless sky. "Then it'll be the U.A. exams."

"What, you getting nervous?" Izuku asked, writing down a few more observations about the newly debuted Mountain Lady in his book.

Kacchan yanked him out of the way of an incoming lamppost, scoffing loudly at the implication that the mighty Kacchan might ever be nervous about anything.

"Nervous you're gonna fail." Kacchan said as they ducked into the tunnel that they used as a shortcut. "I just stuck my neck out for you, so you'd better not embarrass by being as big a loser as those guys."

"Thanks for the concern, Kacchan." Izuku said, scanning the tunnel suspiciously. He could have sworn he heard something. "Can we go via the shopping centre, I said I'd pick some stuff up for mum."

Kacchan stuck out his tongue, the grimace on his face perfectly captured by the light as they left the tunnel. "It's too hot to shop. I'll wait for you outside."

"Yeah, sure." Izuku mumbled, distracted by his notes again.

Kacchan sighed, snatching it out of his hands. "And I'm keeping this. I'm over for dinner tonight and I'm not reliving the eggless omlet incident 'cause you forget to grab everything on Auntie's list."

Izuku pouted. "It was one time."

"It was twice and you know it." Kacchan snapped back.

Xxx

In spite of Kacchan's dire predictions, Izuku did not actually forget anything on his list. This was because he was not actually as much of an idiot a Kacchan seemed to think. He was just finishing bagging everything up when a deafening boom shook the shop walls. Izuku dropped his bag in shock and out the back a dog started barking.

Izuku frowned, he knew those explosions.

"Kacchan?" He asked, ducking back outside to where he had left his friend.

Kacchan was nowhere to be found. Instead a crowd had formed, circling one particular spot in the street.

Beyond the crowd a surge of heat and fire swarmed upwards, accompanied by Kacchan's angry scream.

"Kacchan?" Izuku asked again the bursts of fire overlapping with a different battle, different flames and different children screaming.

"Get out of the way, that's my friend!" Izuku snapped elbowing himself forwards in the crowd until he could see. Alone in the street and surrounded by his own fire, Kacchan was struggling in the grip of a giant mutated slime villain. His hands were almost completely subsumed in it, tendrils of grey slime wrapping around his body and neck and tugging his head backwards as it attempted to cram itself down his throat. His eyes were wide and terrified.

"Kaccha –"

An iron grip tightened around his wrist and yanked him to a stop as Izuku attempted to sprint forwards. "Let go!" He yelled. "That's my friend."

"Calm down, my boy." A voice said. "This is not something a civilian can handle. Leave it to the heroes."

"The heroes aren't doing anything!" Izuku snapped, rounding on the guy holding him and catching sight of wild blonde hair and gaunt features. He waved to where Kamui Woods was lurking in the background, avoiding the flames and Mountain Lady was struggling to navigate the crowds. "Look at them, they're just waiting for someone better to show up."

The grip loosened and Izuku lunged forwards, grabbing his sonic pen out of his pocket and letting the crystal jutting out of the top light up in a dark green as it scanned the villain. The psychic notebook in his inner pocket vibrated as it downloaded the information and he dug it out flipping it open and scanning through the information for something useful.

 _Mutation Quirk_

 _High body Plasticity_

 _Able to absorb and assimilate dirt and grime_

 _Weak points in the eyes and teeth_

 _No discernible brain_

 _Biological make-up similar to that of –_

"The Slytheen?" Izuku muttered, "What does that –"

"Hey!" The stranger exclaimed as Izuku pushed back past him, sprinting towards the shop he had just come from.

The shopkeeper had abandoned the counter and was peering with unabashed curiosity through the window at the chaos.

"Sorry, I need these, I'll pay later!" Izuku yelped, sweeping an armful of pickled eggs off the shelf and running back out into the street, ignoring the angry yells of the shopkeeper.

Slipping through the crowd was even easier this time even with his arms full. One of the jars fell to the ground and shattered as he ran, stumbling through the mess of the street and dodging Kacchan's flames. He'd had a lot of experience. Behind him the heroes were yelling at him to stop but they weren't trying to stop them.

"Hey!" He yelled, "Catch!"

The jar exploded above the slime-villian's eyes and he screeched as the vinegar splattered down across his skin. The slime bubbled as pickled eggs rained down upon him and he tried to flinch backwards from them.

Brilliant. Acetic acid allergy. Just like the Slytheen. Izuku hadn't been entirely sure it would work.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kacchan yelled, struggling forwards and managing to tear his head free. "Get out of here."

"Not without you!" Izuku yelled, throwing another jar.

"Get out of here!"

"No! I am not running away _again_." Izuku dropped the rest of the jars onto the villain's feet and grabbed hold of Kacchan's hand. I have had enough of leaving people behind. I have had enough of people I love dying because I'm too weak. I don't care about Quirks, I don't care about heroes. You are going to be okay, why?"

Behind them, in the crowd, a man with spikey blonde hair and sunken, broad shoulders straightened and unfolded into a larger man.

"– Because –" Izuku planted his feet and pulled.

"I am here!" Another voice boomed.

Sunshiney hair and a beaming smile filled Izuku's vision and beside him he could almost feel Kacchan's jaw drop.

"Detroit SMASH!" the same voice yelled, firing off a punch that blew the Sime Villain away.

Kacchan dropped to the floor and Izuku, still pulling, collapsed next to him.

"All Might." He whispered, jaw dropping open.

All Might beamed.

Above them, in what had been clear skies, it stated to rain.


	8. Chapter 8

Age Fourteen

 **Okay so, sorry about this but this is a bit of a fillery chapter. I just needed a bit of a transitional one between what happened last chapter and what's gonna happen in the next one. Also, seeing as we've hit U.A. era, I'm gonna ditch the age at the top of the chapter thing seeing as they're gonna be the same age from now on.**

"You're All Might!" Izuku squeaked.

"Yes I am." All Might boomed boisterously and put his hands on his hips. "And you, young heroes, who might you be?"

Izuku squeaked again and clapped his hands over his mouth. His face was burning, and he could feel the blush starting to spread to his ears.

"I'm Bakugou Katsuki," Kacchan interrupted, jabbing a thumb at his chest. "This nerd is Midoriya Izuku."

"Ah!" Izuku blurted, "My notebook. Kacchan, you had my notebook, Mr All Might, could you sign my notebook?"

All Might laughed and scooped the mentioned notebook off the floor and scribbled a quick signature on one page.

"Thank you so much!" Izuku yelped, clutching the notebook to his chest and bowing repeatedly to show his gratitude.

"Chill out before you hurt yourself." Katsuki snapped, grabbing Izuku's collar and yanking him upright.

"Thanks for helping out." He shot at All Might. "This idiot rushed in without thinking," Kacchan punctuated his disapproval with a shake to Izuku's collar. " _Again_."

"Hey, I saved your life." Izuku snapped.

Kacchan scrunched his face up. "Barely. Sludge guy was about to grab you when All Might stepped in."

"Ha Ha Ha." All Might laughed. "Do not worry about it, young Midoriya. Some of the best hero stories begin with the hero running in against their better judgement. They move automatically to come to the aid of others."

Izuku could almost swear he felt his soul leave his body as All Might clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"And you, young Bakugou," All Might continued, clapping his other hand onto Kacchan's shoulder. Despite how unexpected he tried to appear Izuku could feel the heat radiating off his friend. A sure sign of his embarrassment. "Your composure under stress was remarkable as was your concern for your friend. You have a very strong Quirk indeed. I look forward to seeing your growth as heroes, I'll keep an eye out for you in the U.A. exams."

Izuku beamed.

"Definitely." Kacchan cut in. "We're gonna ace them."

"All Might!"

"It's Al Might!"

"All Might is here!"

"Ah," All Might announced, "I must go! I hope to see you again, soon."

With that said he leapt straight upwards, disappearing across the buildings just as a wave of civilians and reporters broke through the crowd and swarmed the place he had been. That it seems was the signal for the rest of the heroes and the medical professionals to move in.

Xxx

"All Might signed my notebook."

"Yes, I know, I was there."

"All Might Signed my Notebook."

"Yep."

"All Might. My Notebook."

"Yes, I know, All Might signed your notebook and then you totally ditched me with the medics and ran off."

Deku grimaced, his nose scrunching up, and the faint flicker of guilt shimmering in his eyes. "I needed to go pay for the stuff I took from the grocers. Plus, I needed to grab the stuff I got for mum."

Katsuki grunted in acknowledgement.

"Plus, I hate Doctors." Izuku continued. "They're so…Pokey."

Kacchan snorted and shoved his hands in his pockets. He knew exactly why Izuku hated doctors and it had nothing to do with how 'pokey' they might be.

"All Might signed my Notebook."

Katsuki sighed as Izuku went back onto that. The other boy was still in a daze, the all important notebook, now slightly charred from Katsuki's explosions, hugged tight to his chest, over his two hearts.

"I'm gonna frame it." Izuku decided. "I'm gonna make it a family heirloom. I'm gonna –"

Izuku froze so quickly that Katsuki crashed into his back and nearly took a tumble onto the street.

"What?" Katsuki snapped, his head whipping round for the new threat.

"All Might. He said he'd see us during the U.A. exam. Why would he see us at the U.A. exam? Only the teachers are allowed to watch the U.A. exam." Izuku sounded even more dazed than he had before and his grip on the notebook was actually starting to slacken.

"Maybe they're making an exception." Katsuki shrugged. "He is Number One."

Izuku shook his head. "No, they take Quirk confidentiality very seriously. They would never let an outsider watch the exam."

"Wait." Katsuki said, an impossible idea starting to bloom, "That means…"

Izuku's eyes were just as wide as his own. "All Might is going to teach at U.A."

"All Might is going to teach at U.A." Katsuki echoed.

Izuku dropped the eggs again.

Xxx

"What are you doing?" Katsuki asked, peering down from his perch on top of a rusty chair that was itself sitting on top of an abandoned desk that was in turn balancing on the chassis of an old car.

"I," Izuku declared, throwing his entire weight against an abandoned fridge. "Am going to clear this beach."

"Okay." Katsuki drawled, chomping on a breakfast bar and not moving from his precarious seat.

"Like seven years ago we swore that we were gonna clean this beach and then all we did was clear out some room for practice and pilfer all the stuff I could use for inventing. We promised to clear this beach. I'm cleaning this beach."

Katsuki ran his gaze across the beach. Despite the dent they had made in the beach the rubbish stacks were just as high as ever. In the past few years the dumping had only gotten worse and some of the piles seemed to have multiplied and spawned new piles.

"It's gonna take you ages."

Izuku whined and strained against the fridge, his feet sinking into the sand as he scrabbled for purchase. "Heroes keep their promises. I said I'd clear the beach. I'm clearing the beach. It's training."

Katsuki scrambled down the rubbish to land next to a still straining Izuku who had managed to move the fridge about an inch in the sand.

"Okay, but, where are you gonna put it?" Katsuki asked. "That's always been the flaw in the 'clean the beach' plan. The dump is like halfway across town. How're we gonna get there?"

"I have a van."

"Ahhhhh!" Izuku yelped, jumping backwards and toppling over behind the fridge. Katsuki ducked, hands raised and ready to fire off an explosion at a moments notice.

"Ahhh." The man yelped back at them, vomiting blood.

"Ahhhh." Izuku yelped again, scrambling forwards. "Are you okay? What's wrong? You're bleeding? Do you need a tissue, or, like an ambulance?"

Katsuki eyed the stranger warily as Deku fluttered around him and flipped his phone open to call the ambulance.

"Ah, do not worry, my boy." The stranger said holding out a hand. "This is perfectly normal. It happens a lot. I'm fine."

"Right." Katsuki drawled, but he did flip the phone shut.

"Are you sure?" Deku fretted. "I have juice in my bag. You should drink something."

"No, no. I'm fine." The stranger said, dabbing at the blood on his chin with his hands. "I'm used to it."

"Right." Katsuki drawled again, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes. The stranger was tall and skinny, near skeletal and with deep shadows over his hooded eyes that made them appear almost black. "And in between coughing up blood you stalk kids at beaches."

Blegh. And there was more blood.

"Kacchan!" Izuku hissed.

"What?" Katsuki said. "It's odd."

"I apologise for startling you." The stranger said. "I didn't realise that you were here. My name is Yagi Toshinori. I came to this beach often as a youth. I was very sad to see what had happened to it, when I overheard you talking about cleaning it up, I'm afraid that my excitement got the better of me."

"Kacchan." Deku hissed again, clasping his hands under his chin and staring up at him with wide, wide eyes.

Katsuki sighed, shooting another suspicious look at 'Yagi'. He could definitely take him. "Fine. we'll clear the beach."

"Great!" Izuku shot up to his feet, planting his hands on his hips. "We're gonna have to work really hard if we're gonna clean this beach up before the U.A. exams."

"What do you mean before the exams?" Katsuki demanded as Deku and Yagi started hauling the fridge towards the road. "Deku, Deku that exam is like a month away. Deku!"

"Can't hear you, Kacchan." Deku yelled. "Lifting."


	9. Chapter 9

"We made it on time!" Izuku breathed, staring up at the U.A. building with wide eyes. "We're gonna take the hero exam."

"C'mon Deku, move." Kacchan said, shoulder bumping him gently. "We're not gonna get anywhere if you stand around gawping at the building."

"Right!" Izuku said as Katsuki brushed passed him and onto the grounds. He grabbed at the straps on his bag, holding them tightly as he went to take the first step onto the grounds of U.A.

And, he tripped.

"Ah." Izuku yelped as he stumbled forwards, throwing up his hands to shield his face and then blinking in shock as he froze inches above the ground. Izuku flailed, waving his body around in mid-air and frowning as he failed to go anywhere. "What the...?"

"Are you okay?" A chirpy voice yelped. "I'm sorry for using my quirk on you, I just thought it would be bad luck if you fell on exam day!"

"It's fine." Izuku said, managing to flip over onto his back. He froze as his rescuer came into view. It was a girl. A pretty girl. She had light brown hair and rosy cheeks. The pads of her fingertips that she had pressed together had thick looking circles on them, a darker pink than her skin and no doubt part of her quirk. Telekinesis? No, she was propping him onto his feet with her hands not her mind. Some sort of gravity manipulation? His body did feel like it had grown heavier when she had released her quirk.

"Well," The girl chirped, "Good luck!"

Izuku stared blankly after her as she left, only snapping out of it when she walked passed an also staring Kacchan. A staring, snickering Kacchan.

"Kacchan." Deku whispered. "I talked to a girl."

Kacchan rolled his eyes. "I didn't see you doing much of the talking."

"Kacchan." Deku said again. "I _talked_ to a _girl_."

"Yeah, whatever." Katsuki said. "C'mon Deku, I wanna get inside before all the good seats are taken."

"Right!" Izuku agreed, running after his friend.

They filtered into a huge auditorium, it was built sort of like a Roman Colosseum, rows and rows of seats circling a small stage in the dead centre. The people around them certainly had impressive quirks. At least, from what Izuku could see. There were dozens of visible mutations, one girl was pink from head to toe, another had hair made of what looked like snakes. Izuku even caught sight of what looked like a pair of empty clothes wandering around. He wondered briefly if the person was camouflaging, reflecting light or just plain transparent.

"You're mumbling again." Kacchan hissed as they took their seats.

"Sorry." Izuku mumbled back, dropping into his seat and trying to stuff his bag under the desk.

"Good morning listeners!" The examiner cried striding into the room and Izuku bolted upright in his seat.

"It's Present Mic! Present Mic!" Izuku yelped, grabbing Kacchan's arm.

"I see that!" Katsuki hissed back, yanking his arm out of Izuku's grip.

"I've listened to all of his shows, he's so cool!" Izuku muttered, he could feel himself shaking with excitement as Present Mic started describing the way the exam would work. Izuku listened with half his brain, the other focused on having a complete fanboy moment over one of his heroes. "He was born with his quirk already manifested! I've always admired how he uses the directional speakers to compensate for volume control and…"

"Hey?" Kacchan hissed. "Robots, are you gonna be okay with robots? Your Quirk isn't exactly physical."

"I'll be fine." Izuku whispered back, as Present Mic's voice grew louder and more dramatic. "I'm good with machines."

"Good 'cause we're in different zones so I won't be able to lend you a hand and Auntie Inko will definitely cry all over me if you get yourself crushed."

"Not gonna get crushed."

"Excuse me!" A voice cut in. The speaker was another examinee, his posture was perfect and his movements boxy and precise. His voice had a slight upper-class tinge to it, that spoke of high breeding or at the very least a scholarship to a fancy school. "There appears to be a mistake on this form. There are four villains depicted on this form, however you have only described three. For an institution as renowned as U.A. I find this lapse unforgivable. And another thing."

The boy spun around and Izuku was treated to an irritated glare and piercing blue eyes.

"You have been talking to yourself this entire time." The boy snapped, pointing straight towards Izuku. Izuku shrunk down as every eye in the room focussed on him. Even that of Present Mic. "It is distracting. If you do not intend to take this exam seriously please leave now."

"You wanna fight, four-eyes?" Kacchan yelled. With a speed born of long term practice with Kacchan's temper Izuku managed to wrap his arms around Kacchan's waist before he could launch himself down the steps to pound the other boy's face in. "I will end you!"

"All right, all right." Present Mic announced. "That's a lot of energy from you, listeners. You should probably save it for the exam. As for you candidate 711, that was a good catch on the villains. You're right I've only talked about three. The fourth villain is a special one. This villain is worth Zero points."

"Deku, let go!" Kacchan said, wriggling in his half-on, half-off position on the desk.

"Are you gonna start a fight?" Izuku asked.

"No." Kacchan pouted, crossing his arms and slumping back down onto his chair. "But I could beat Speccy in like five minutes. Wouldn't even break a sweat."

"Sure, you could." Izuku agreed, just as Present Mic announced the locations for each of the groups. "I'll see you after the exams. Good luck."

"I don't need luck." Kacchan bragged, "I'm going to crush these losers flat."

Xxx

The exam centre was massive. If Izuku didn't know better he'd have almost suspected that they had access to Time Lord technology. They'd somehow managed to cram an entire false city onto the U.A. grounds, complete with buildings and roads and high-rise buildings.

"Woah." Izuku breathed, staring up.

The other examinees were all stretching and prepping their quirks with the sort of cocksure attitude that came from an entire life of being to that their quirk made them superior. There'd been rules about what you could bring into the exam. Only equipment that matched your quirk. Fortunately, Izuku had been able to justify bringing in his toolkit. Not his big one or anything, but he'd managed to bring his travel kit, a leather satchel with a couple of screwdrivers, a hammer, his sonic pen and then a whole bunch of wires and screws and nails. He checked that it was firmly attached to his belt and then went back to examining the other competitors.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a familiar bob of brown hair.

 _Ah._ Izuku thought. _It's that girl from earlier. I should say thank you._

He started forwards through the crowd only to be halted by a hand on his shoulder.

"That girl is concentrating." Izuku winced. It was 711, from the exam room. Trust him to be in the same exam as Izuku. "Is it your intention to distract her and reduce the competition?"

"Ah, no, no, no, no, no." Izuku said, shaking his head back and forth and holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just –"

"And begin."

 _Huh?_ Izuku glanced round just in time to see the other candidates sprinting towards the exam entrance. "Oh, come on!" he yelled, giving chase.

He had never been so grateful for his alien biology. It might not be enough to challenge someone with an enhancement quirk, but the extra speed was nice at times like this. Slightly above average made all the difference when running into a fake city of ginormous robots.

The city was certainly realistic. And big. And robots did not have a telepathic field. Izuku had no clue how he was gonna go about tracking them down.

"Woah!" Izuku threw himself to his knees as he turned a corner, skidding a few feet down the road as the wall above his head exploded into dust. The robot in front of him was a beautiful creation. Smooth metal, over prehensile vertebrae that gave it an almost human flexibility. The machine had a large machine gun mounted onto one arm and a large letter one painted in white across its side. It would almost be crime to destroy it.

"Careful!" A voice called, a sparkly blue laser cutting straight through the solid frame and heading down the street.

Izuku followed its path down to an equally sparkly blonde boy who was posing in the middle of the street.

"Thanks for setting that up for me!" Laser Boy cooed, tossing a piece sign into the air and winking. "But with that reaction time I doubt that we will see each other again. Chao, chao."

Izuku rolled his eyes at the grandstanding and headed over to the robot corpse, sticking his head through the massive hole in the side and starting to gut it of everything useful. This was going to be a lot easier than he thought. The square around him was littered with robot parts, examinees sprinting around the area and destroying every single one they saw and leaving a trail of broken parts behind them. Izuku grinned and juggled his supplies into the crook of one arm, flipping open his tool kit and grabbing his screwdriver. He still had an entire six minutes, this was going to be so easy.

Xxx

"This year's listeners are sooooo energetic." Hizashi cooed, hovering over one of the monitors like his firstborn child were competing.

Shota would be concerned if he hadn't seen his friend act like this every single year.

"Which ones do you think will be in your class?" Hizashi asked.

Shota scoffed, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at his friend. "Hopefully a better bunch than I got this year."

Hizashi giggled hysterically, going back to cooing at one of the screens. He'd been alternating between finding it hilarious that Shota had expelled an entire class before the end of the first term and finding it horrifying. Shota glanced over the screens again. There didn't seem to be anyone too extraordinary. One kid in sector B was running round making a mess with an excessive amount of explosives and Shota could see Tensei's kid brother zipping round sector D.

"All of them show a great amount of potential." The elephant in the room declared with m. "They will make great heroes.

Shota glowered and buried himself deeper into his capture scarf. All Might was joining them for analysing the examinees this year and the man had been blindingly optimistic this entire time. He seemed convinced that every examinee could be the next Number One as though half of them wouldn't be lacking in the personality and dedication department. Shota had seen way too many hot-headed, quirk-obsessed zeros coming through the door of his classroom to get excited about a couple of high-powered kids in one exam.

"What is that one doing?" Hizashi asked, squinting closer. "He's not even trying to get points."

"What?" Shota asked. He spotted the kid that Hizashi was talking about pretty quickly. The kid was one of the ones in sector D, a green haired pipsqueak who was ignoring the robots running around and instead heading around for the scrap metal that was littering the exam area. "I have no idea."

"He must have some sort of plan." All Might proclaimed, leaning closer.

"Well," Hizashi declared. "He'd better put that plan into place quickly. It's time to bring out the big guns."

With a devilish grin he pressed the big red button on the console in front of him.

Xxx

The first tremor Izuku mistook for someone's quirk. He'd definitely seen Kacchan give off explosions big enough to make the ground seem like it was shaking. Besides it's not like there was a deficit of earth-based quirks.

The second tremor though. The second was accompanied by a whine of mechanics, the same whine that he had been hearing from the robots around him. Just scaled up. He listened to the sound of the hydraulics and reconsidered, make that scaled up A Lot.

"Get out of the way!" Someone yelled.

"This thing is totally out of control!"

"What kind of test is this?" Someone else wailed.

Izuku glanced up from where he was feeding a wire into his Creation to see everyone in the exam centre running in his direction.

Behind them the ground shook as the infamous Zero Pointer arrived.

Izuku looked up.

And up.

"Jesus Christ." He breathed. That thing was massive. It must have been nearly impossible to build. The technology needed just to make it mobile, let alone bipedal, must have been incredible.

"Don't just hang around, kid." Someone with a mutant quirk snapped as they sped by. "Move."

"Rude." Izuku murmured. "It's a high school exam. We're the same age."

In front of him, hidden in the cloud of dust thrown up by the Zero-Pointer's rampage someone whimpered. Izuku frowned, clutching his Creation closer and peering into the fog. The dust was starting to clear and in it Izuku could just make out someone lying on the floor, directly in the Zero-Pointer's path.

He glanced down. The Creation was nearly complete.

He broke into a dead sprint. The Creation was heavy in his arms and he clutched it tighter so he wouldn't drop it. The girl was the one from before. The one who had stopped him from falling. Pinned beneath the rubble of a collapsed building.

"Hold on." Izuku panted, skidding to his knees next to her and planting the Creation on the ground in front of him. "Stay calm, it's going to be okay now. I am here."

In front of them the Zero-Pointer moved forwards. Izuku squinted. Calculating. The space between them and it was too close. If it fell forwards it would crush them.

Izuku grabbed hold of two wires, the last bit needed to make this work, and waited.

The robot raised one leg.

And Izuku pressed the wires together.

They sparked between his hands, once, twice, sparks dancing painfully across his skin as the EMP he'd built activated.

The robot spluttered, twitched and collapsed backwards.

And every machine within the examination area went dead.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay so, fair warning, I'm heading back to work tomorrow so updates are probably going to be a bit less frequent. I just wanted to get this chapter up before I did. Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! They really make my day! I know some of you have been asking questions and unfortunately I can't really answer them without giving too much away. I can let you know however that, for now, the story will follow more U.A. events, with a plan to branch out into more AU/Space happenings after that point.**

"Okay examinees! Woooeeeh that was an unexpected end to the exams." Present Mic called. "My microphone appears to be broken right now but that is Time! Please make your way towards the exits of your examination areas. If you are injured do not panic, medical staff will be with you shortly."

"Hey," Izuku turned to the girl. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." The girl winced, craning around to see him without jostling the leg that was stuck beneath rubble. "My leg's stuck and I overdid it, so my quirk's being a little…" She grimaced.

"Right." Izuku let go of the EMP. It was an ugly thing. Definitely not his best work. But it had gotten the job done. He examined the rubble. It was two large fragments of wall that had landed on top of each other. On he could probably lift himself. The other… "Do you think you'd be able to use your Quirk on just this one bit, so I can move it out of the way?"

The girl grimaced again and then furrowed her brow in concentration. "Yeah."

She pressed her five fingers together and then reached back and tapped the top piece of wall. Working quickly Izuku shoved it to the side, away from the girl and then lifted the other piece up just enough for her to wriggle out from underneath it.

"Release." The girl whispered, and the wall dropped to the floor with a crunch.

"I'm Uraraka Ochico." Uraraka said, bowing slightly from her place on the floor. "Thank you for rescuing me."

"Ah, it was no problem." Izuku protested. "Thank you for saving me earlier. I'm Izuku, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Uraraka glanced down. "Oh, I didn't even notice." She laughed rubbing the back of her neck.

Izuku frowned, looking down at her leg. There was an ugly scrape down one side where she had wriggled out from under the rubble. It was oozing, blood dribbling down to stain her white sock. There were little bits of gravel tuck in the wound that looked painful and unsanitary. Izuku winced.

"Maybe you should sit down?" He said, gesturing towards the wall that he had just pushed off her.

"Right," Urakara said wobbling over to sit down. "Ah man, that was so intense." She said, stretching. "I didn't even notice I was injured. It kind of stings."

"Mmh." Izuku agreed. "You should probably clean that up. Infections can be really dangerous, one second let me just check my tool kit, Mum normally sneaks a mini med-kit into one of the pockets when I'm not looking."

"Ah, wow," Uraraka laughed. "You're so prepared, I didn't bring anything with me."

Izuku shrugged, flipping open his tool kit and rummaging through it in an attempt to hide the flush rising on his cheeks. "Yeah, well, my quirk isn't really good with robots so…Ah hah!"

He was right, mum had shoved a med-kit into the bottom of his bag. It was just a simple thing, just disinfectant, some pain killers and some bandages.

"No need, no need."

Izuku glanced round and nearly dropped the med-kit, stars blooming in his eyes and a high pitched squeal fighting to escape from his throat. "You're Recovery Girl, the Youthful Hero!" He gushed, clasping his hands beneath his chin. "You're one of my Mum's all-time favourite heroes. It's said that half of the heroes in the city owe you their lives."

"That's very kind of you to say." Recovery Girl said. "And I must say that it's very encouraging to see a young person today so prepared to deal will injuries, but I can take it from here."

Izuku scrambled out of the way as she came over and gave Uraraka a smooch on the cheek. The wound on her leg instantly scabbing over and smoothing out into unmarked skin. There was a brief clatter as the rubble separated itself from her leg and fell painlessly to the floor.

"Have a candy." Recovery Girl said as Uraraka swayed in her seat.

"Ooh." Izuku breathed. "You take the energy needed to heal from the person you are healing." He patted for his notebook only to abruptly remember that he was in an exam and had left it at home.

"That's right." Recovery Girl beamed. "Have a candy."

She tossed a couple of gummy bears in his direction and Izuku had to fumble to grab them, one hand still at his belt and his eyes distracted by the mechanics of the impractical needle cane that Recovery Girl was walking around with.

"Woah!" He ducked to the side as a pair of lips came speeding for his head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm healing your injuries." Recovery Girl said. "Now hold still."

"I'm not injured, I'm fine." Izuku protested. He had no idea how much information her Quirk gave her on the person she was healing. But his physiology was pretty blatantly not human. There was no way he was going to risk her getting her hands (or rather lips) on him.

Recovery Girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Hands."

Izuku glanced down. Shiny pink starbursts littered his fingers and knuckles where he had held the wires of his improvised EMP together. Adrenaline really was a wonderful thing. He'd never even noticed getting them.

"They're fine though," He said, trying very hard to ignore her unimpressed look. "Really, I'll just bandage them up when I get home."

"Don't be silly, I can just fix them up right now."

Recovery Girl came in for another kiss and Izuku shuffled backwards to avoid it, glancing around for an escape. Unfortunately, none of the other examinees who were milling around and gawping at the downed robot seemed interest in helping out.

"Oi, Deku!"

Oh, thank god. Kacchan was the perfect distraction. He was so loud and explosive that no one could pay attention to Izuku when he was in the room.

"Kacchan? What are you doing in here?" Izuku asked, spinning round to see Kacchan storming up, his hair even more bristly than normal and his red eyes narrowed dangerously on Izuku. Izuku didn't _think_ he'd done anything lately to piss Kacchan off. "Are you allowed to be in here?"

"Test's over." Kacchan said, glancing suspiciously between Izuku, Recovery Girl and Uraraka. "My robots died."

Izuku shrugged, glancing helplessly around. Unfortunately the rubble didn't appear to be in the mood to translate and, for once, Izuku was not quite sure what Kacchan's problem was. "Good? I mean, that was the point, right?"

Kacchan's gaze narrowed further and Izuku took the opportunity to sidle slightly further away from Recovery Girl while everyone was distracted by Kacchan's impending explosion.

"My robots died, and it wasn't me."

Izuku winced. He very deliberately didn't glance over at the slightly smoking EMP behind him. Or the giant corpse of the Zero Pointer. Maybe Kacchan wouldn't notice them.

A hand lashed out, grabbing tightly onto the collar of his shirt and pulling him close to furious eyes and snarling teeth. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Nothing. Nothing." Izuku waved his hands in the small gap between their faces. "It was only a tiny EMP. And it was only in the last few seconds anyway. It won't have much of an impact on your score."

"It better not," Kacchan snapped, pulling Izuku into a headlock. "Or I swear to god I'm gonna beat your nerdy face in."

"Kacchan." Izuku whined, his voice muffled by Kacchan's shirt.

"Deku." Kacchan deadpanned. Outside of Izuku's view he was running a considering gaze over Recovery Girl. There weren't many heroes with a needle motif. He started walking, ignoring te way that Deku amost tripped as he was dragged along over the rubble. "C'mon, we've leaving."

Izuku whined gain, trying to twist out of the grip. "Kacchan, I can't see."

"Ah, Wait, I was wondering –" Uraraka jumped to her feet to follow but wobbled at the sudden move and had to sit back down.

"Nope. Not happening." Katsuki snapped in her vague direction. "Auntie said she'd make katsudon after the exam and I'm not gonna be late to that 'cause you're making friends, Deku."

They left an awkward crowd behind them as their squabbling faded off into the distance. Up in the observation room a pair of red eyes had narrowed in considering approval and a Number One hero was silently celebrating their success.

Xxx

"Izuku!"

Izuku jolted upright from where he had been hunched over his schematics for an earth-tech appropriate cloaking device at his mum's shout. Her mind was bubbling in excitement and fear as she banged on his door and he almost knew what it was about before he opened it.

His mum was kneeling on the floor outside presumably having slipped over in the run from the door to his room. A letter with that oh so familiar crest was clutched in her hand.

Izuku froze. He didn't want to open it. But he couldn't just leave it.

Hands trembling, he tentatively reached out, taking from Inko. It was too heavy for a letter. Was that a good sign or a bad one.

"I'm just gonna –" He gestured behind him.

"Right." Inko nodded.

Izuku shut the door and went back over to his desk, brushing his schemantics to the side and dropping the letter onto it. His mum was still outside. He could taste the flavour of her nerves just outside the door as she paced.

He swallowed. This was it.

Right. Izuku nodded to himself. Then, in one quick moment, he ripped the envelope in two.

A slim disk fell out and clattered onto the table top.

Huh, he mused, prodding at it sceptically. Some kind of holographic technology.

The disk buzzed loudly and then a shimmer of light burst above it.

"I am here, as a projection!" All Might shouted, a recording of him appearing in the air above his desk. "Good morning, Young Midoriya, It has been some time since we spoke however I am sure that your progression has be immense since we last spoke. I should come clean, I have come to town for one reason only and that is to teach at UA."

"I knew it." Izuku breathed as the projection continued.

"Now you did very well on the written exam however, for a school such as U.A., even if you pass the written exam you must also pass the practical."

Izuku winced, clutching for his sonic pen like it were a teddy bear and clinging tightly onto it as the projection continued.

"You were remarkable in that all of your points were collected in the last minute of the exam. The device that you created actually affected multiple exam areas and so it has been decided that only the point gained within your sector will be counted. This gives you a grand total of twenty two points."

Izuku winced. Was that enough? Was that too few? Where did that put him in the rankings? Tears were starting to brim in his eyes uncontrollably. He could feel Inko outside and he knew she could feel him. After all these years and all the help she had given him, he didn't know if he could face her like this.

"However."

Izuku's head snapped up.

"We were not only looking for villain-points in this exam. We were also watching for your hero potential. In this job you risk your life on a daily basis, saving others, how could we penalise you for doing the same? I am proud to announce that, for your valiant save of your fellow examinee, we award you 70 points. Giving you a total of ninety-two points."

Izuku was crying again. He scrubbed at his eyes, attempting to keep his eyes on All Might.

"Congratulations on being our top-scoring examinee." All Might beamed. "And welcome to your Hero Academy."

The projection sunk back into the disk and left Izuku sitting alone in a dark room.

Izuku stared, barely understanding what he had seen. Something warm and unbreakable was rising in his chest, an uncontrollable grin starting to stretch across his face. His phone was ringing.

With numb fingers he picked it up and pressed it to his ear.

"Well!" Kacchan's voice demanded.

Izuku laughed, a wet bubble of sound through the tears streaming down his cheeks. "I got in."

There was a barely concealed sigh of relief through the phone and then a triumphant holler. "We're going to U.A.!"

"Yeah." Izuku laughed again and then lunged for the door. "Mum! Mum I got in!"


	11. Chapter 11

"Izuku, have you got your handkerchief?"

"Yes, mum."

"And your lunch money?"

"Yes, mum."

"Oh, one last thing." Inko said, snagging Izuku by the collar and looping something around his head.

Izuku glanced down. His mum was holding a thin chain with a heavy looking antique pocket watch hanging from it. The metal was made out of a heavy looking brass with intricate circles of Gallifreyan etched across the surface. The watch was wrapped in an even thinner chain that crisscrossed the surface and kept it closed.

"Chameleon arch?"

"No, I still haven't figured that out yet." Inko sighed and tugged a strand of her hair in frustration. "One day, though. No, this is a miniaturised version of the Clock. It's got a mini perception filter on it to keep all your Time Lordy bits under wraps."

"Time Lordy bits?"

Inko rolled her eyes. "You look very handsome." She said, tugging down the lapels of his blazer and smoothing the creases on his, frankly monstrosity of a tie. "Mum and Dad would have been very, very proud of you." She cupped his chin and tilted his head up to look into his eyes. " _I_ am very proud of you."

"Thanks, mum." Izuku dashed his hand across his eyes.

Inko tucked the watch beneath his collar and patted it down.

"Right," She said, her own eyes starting to water and her lower lip starting to wobble. "You'd best head off before Little Katsuki comes knocking."

Izuku grinned, "I'll see you later."

Xxx

"Where is this stupid room?" Katsuki snarled.

"We'll find it, it's a big school." Izuku said.

"This map is stupid." Katsuki said, scrunching it up and shoving it in a pocket.

For a school that had such a selective entrance process U.A. really was massive. It was all sleek windows and metal, with ginormous doors and corridors. Presumably to cater to students with gigantism quirks or other large mutations.

"That's One A isn't it?"

"Right." Katsuki squared up to the massive door, eying it up like he did every challenge and then he shoved his sleeves up and slammed the door open.

"S'up losers?"

Izuku groaned and hide his face in his hands, peaking through his fingers into the room and attempting to hide behind Kacchan. This was not exactly the auspicious start to high school that he was hoping for.

"Oh." Katsuki deflated. "It's you. Great."

Izuku peered round to see what Kacchan was looking at and then shrunk even further back when he caught sight of the glasses wearing guy from the exam. Without looking Katsuki reached one arm back and grabbed hold of Izuku's shirt, tugging him into the room.

"Get out here, nerd." He said.

Glasses bristled himself up to his not inconsiderate full height. "Well," He blustered, sticking his hands onto his hips and furrowing his sharp eyebrows. "That seems like a disrespectful way to speak to your fellow classmate. Particularly one who managed to identify the true nature of the practical exam."

Katsuki frowned and then glanced over at Izuku in confusion. Izuku shrugged.

"Allow me to introduce myself." Glasses said, jerking into a bow. "I am Iida Tenya, of Somei Middle School, it is an honour to meet you."

"It's nice to meet –"

"Oh, you're the curly haired boy, Izuku, right? And the angry one." Izuku spun round to see the brown-haired girl from the exam peaking through the open door.

"Who are you calling angry?" Kacchan snarled. Angrily.

"Oh, Uraraka," Izuku beamed, "I'm so happy to see you! How's your leg?"

"Recovery Girl patched it right up. Thanks again for saving me."

"No problem."

Iida adjusted his glasses, "Perhaps we should move away from the doorway. Other classmates may wish to enter, and our homeroom teacher should be here too."

"He has a point."

Izuku shrieked as another voice chimed in. He spun round and almost stumbled backwards when he saw what had spoken. It was some weird yellow caterpillar with a humanoid face and an electrolyte juice pack clutched in one hand. It probably wasn't an Astratalite in their larval stage. But it looked pretty close. All it needed to do was start secreting acid and it'd be a dead ringer.

While Izuku was remembering the worst Christmas trip ever the caterpillar was climbing to its feet, face contorted into a tired grimace.

"This is the hero course. If you're here to socialise, then you should leave." The caterpillar peeled itself out of what turned out to be a puffy sleeping bag and revealed itself to be a tired looking man with scraggly lack hair and bloodshot eyes. "I am your homeroom teacher Shota Aizawa, now grab your gym clothes and meet me on the field. I'm testing your quirks."

Xxx

"705 meters."

Katsuki glanced down at his hand. Even he was a little bit surprised about how far the ball had gone. Not like he didn't know he was the best, but it was good to have it confirmed. This whole test thing would be a cinch.

He glanced over at Izuku who was looking faintly green and fiddling with something beneath his shirt.

"You gonna be alright?" He muttered.

Izuku grimaced. "I'll figure something out. Analysis doesn't really give me much of an edge in physical sports."

"You don't think he's like that jackass from Middle school?" Katsuki asked. "Want me to beat him up? I can beat him up."

Izuku snickered. "He's a professional hero, you probably can't. Besides, I doubt he's got a hang up about quirks. Principle Nedzu is a quirked animal. He'd definitely fire anyone with a bias."

Katsuki scoffed. "No hero I've ever heard of. I could definitely take him."

Katsuki didn't care what Izuku said. He shot another narrowed eyed look over at their scruffy looking teacher. If this jackass expelled Izuku Katsuki was gonna rip his arm off and beat him with it.

"Bakugou, Midoriya, you're up." Aizawa gestured towards the race track.

Katsuki rolled his shoulders, stretching them out and trying to get really lose. He had a trick that he'd been working on that ought to be ideal for this kind of thing. It was tough on his shoulders and neck though, so he'd have to do short bursts of speed.

Somehow in the short trip from five steps away from the track, to the start of the actual track Izuku had managed to disappear. He tilted his head back and scanned for a head of green hair. Izuku was chatting to that glasses guy. Private school guy. Izuku tugged glasses over to the start line and then jumped up onto his back.

Katsuki blinked. Then he glanced over at the teacher who was apparently cool with this. Or at the very least wasn't gonna waste the energy on a reaction.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Using my Quirk to enhance my performance." Izuku answered, grinning like the smug little shrimp that he was. He pointed at himself, "Analysis quirk." Then at Glasses. "Speed quirk."

"Still gonna kick your arse."

"I'd like to see you try." Izuku sniped back, sticking out his tongue and pulling down his eyelid.

"And, go." Aizawa-sensei said.

Using his explosions to propel himself forwards was definitely a success. He'd just about managed to scrape draw with the Deku-Glasses combo. Not bad considering speed guy's quirk was literally just speed. Sure, having Deku on his back slowed him down some, but Katsuki was still pretty impressed with himself.

Katsuki made sure to keep an eye on Deku through the rest of the challenges. It'd be way too embarrassing for Deku to drop out on the first day. People might find out that they were childhood friends.

Grip test went okay. Deku used a length of wire and a stick to make a sort of improvised crank, twisting it around the grip and squeezing it tighter than he ever could by himself. He'd got that black ponytail girl with some sort of creation quirk to make it for him. On the bright side Their cleaning the beach gig and the regular spars meant that Deku was doing decently anyway, even on the tasks where he couldn't get anyone to cheat for him.

For the long jump he got that six-armed guy to give him a boost, Katsuki noted that down along with a reminder to not crush the guy too terribly when it came to a fight. For the ball toss he'd got that round-faced girl he was talking to this morning to make his ball lighter. The end result was some tiny purple-ball haired kid whimpering as he stared up at the score board and his name at the very bottom.

"What, but, but, no." He blubbered, clutching at his face as snot and tears dribbled down it. "But no."

Aizawa-Sensei was unmoved. "Go back to the classroom and collect your things. There is not longer a place here for you at this academy."

"What?" The boy trilled. "That's not fair! What about him?"

He shoved a pudgy finger in Deku's direction and Katsuki made sure to crack his knuckles loudly enough that the boy squeaked.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"He didn't use his quirk at all," Midget complained, his nasally voice was really starting to grate on Katsuki's nerves. "He just got everyone else to cheat for him."

"Incorrect on several points." Aizawa said, stalking forwards with a lithe grace that his tired eyes and baggy clothes belied. "Firstly, Midoriya used his quirk to identify the fellow students that would be best suited to each task. He worked well with others to compensate for the fact that his quirk granted him no physical advantages."

Katsuki sniggered at the cowardly look on the midget's face listening eagerly for the rest of the lecture. "Secondly, even on the task where he could not rely on others, he still gave it his all and performed admirably. You on the other hand, were only able to use your quirk on one of the tasks and did not even try on the others. You were relying on someone doing worse instead of pushing yourself to do better."

Red eyes narrowed threateningly as Aizawa leaned closer. "I will not teach someone with zero potential. Now pack your things and leave the premises."

Midget burst into even louder sobs and ran from the field, bawling all the way.

"Well." Aizawa-Sensei said, brushing his hands off and standing back up to his full height. "Well done to the rest of you. I believe that we should head back into school before I expel the rest of you."

There as a beat of silence and then there were shouts as the class scrambled over themselves to sprint back towards the school.

Behind them Aizawa chuckled quietly at the chaos and Katsuki grinned sharply.

This really was his type of school.


	12. Chapter 12

**A bit of a shorter chapter this time, just to keep things moving. I was trying to come up with Quirk Ideas for cameo OC's in later chapters and accidently came up with a Quirk I liked the idea of so much that I slapped it on Izuku and wrote a 3,000 word AU, so, yeah, you can check that out on my profile if you're interested.**

The next morning Izuku woke a few minutes before his alarm. His room was dimly lit by the morning sun and the faint electrical glow of his sonic charging over by the desk. It was his first proper day at U.A. Today, he started his Hero Lessons. Izuku beamed, smothering himself with his pillow and rolling over onto his stomach. He kicked his legs in excitement, giggling quietly to himself. In the next room over he felt his mum's tired-amusement at his joy and he tugged the comforter over his head in an attempt to squish down his excitement.

"Okay," Inko said, shuffling into the room and tying her dressing gown tighter around her. "We might as well get up, clearly you aren't getting back to sleep."

Izuku rolled over, throwing his arm up over his head and grinning sheepishly. "Sorry."

Inko smiled, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "I'll get started on breakfast, you can make sure you've got everything. Have you sent everything in for your hero costume? You're starting hero training today, right?"

Izuku beamed wider. "Yeah, I got everything in last week. Thanks for the help."

"Make sure to keep your clock wound up," Inko said, patting it gently. "You'll be under a lot more scrutiny and it wouldn't do for any one to find out."

"I know, I know." Izuku agreed, sitting up and glancing around for his bag.

"I'm gonna head in to work early, I've left money on the side for your lunch today, make sure to grab your sonic on the way out and give me a call if you need anything."

"Yeah, thanks mum."

Xxx

"Deku!"

"Midoriya!"

Izuku startled at the calls, and Katsuki glanced round to see that Glasses and Round-Face were waiting for them at the gates to the school. He groaned. Izuku would probably be upset if he was mean to them and an upset Izuku was just so much effort.

"Be nice." Izuku hissed, waving back at them.

See. Effort.

"What are you two doing here?" Izuku asked, running over with Katsuki slouching after him at a relaxed pace. "Shouldn't you be heading in to homeroom?"

"We were waiting for you" Uraraka said, hair bouncing as she fell into step besides them both. Iida fell into place on Deku's other side and Katsuki took a moment to shoot the guy an evil glare just in case.

"We're friends now, aren't we?" She continued.

"No." Katsuki scoffed. He didn't need to make friends with these extras until he knew whether they'd be worth his time. Though if any more people he knew turned out to be aliens in disguise he'd emigrate to England. There were probably less aliens in England.

"I Wasn't talking to you." Uraraka returned without missing a beat.

She'd linked arms with Deku and was pulling him towards the building, chattering all the while. "Are you excited for hero lessons? Who do you think will be taking the course? What about the other classes, they're all taught by heroes aren't they?"

"My brother knows Present Mic, I believe he mentioned that he teaches the English classes?"

"EEh?" Uraraka exclaimed. "Your brother knows Present Mic? Really?"

Katsuki tuned them out. They were noisy and it's not like they were saying anything important anyway. He didn't care too much who was taking the class as long as he got to fight someone. Personally, Katsuki had his eyes on that half red, half white guy that he'd heard was the son of the number two. He was gonna beat that guy into the dirt.

"Wait, really?"

Katsuki glanced over at Izuku's shout. The idiot was blushing slightly under the attention, a little pleased smile on his face. Katsuki scoffed to himself and looked away. The idiot was always way more into people then Katsuki was. He was always crying when the extras back in elementary wouldn't play with him.

At least the extras at this school seemed slightly smarter.

Xxx

It turned out that hero school was just as boring as regular school. Izuku wasn't one of those Time Lord's that would bang on and on about how superior Time Lords were to every other species or whatever, but the fact was that Time Lords were rather better equipped to do well in school. Like history, Izuku had first hand accounts of history. The _'Time'_ bit of the name wasn't an exaggeration. The only thing he was going to get wrong in history were the bits that the actual History books were wrong about.

Maths, science and engineering, again, grew up with a spaceship, regularly travels across the universe. Engineering was a big deal on Gallifrey and Izuku definitely knew more about physics than his teacher did.

Even English was pretty simple. Once you'd learnt how to speak languages that required you to compensate for your lack of beak, plain old Earth languages were simple. And not even in the 'My TARDIS has a universal translator' kind of way because the second he started studying languages in school Mum had turned that off, so he couldn't cheat.

So really there were only a few classes that Izuku really struggled with. Literature, P.E., Home economics and, surprisingly, geography. Izuku had never really got the hang of Earth geography. Anyway, the thing was, Izuku had no idea what to expect from a hero course. Presumably they'd be going over some of the ethics and laws surrounding heroics. Then be doing some hands-on training and looking at the history of heroics. Maybe even getting lectures from actual heroes on their experiences in the field.

The mood in the classroom was tense. Even though Aizawa Sensei wasn't in the room, the empty seat where Mineta had once sat had an almost physical presence. No one wanted hero training to go badly. No one wanted to be sent home.

Above the vague background hum of his peers' anxiety and excitement Izuku could feel the faint buzz of someone coming closer. A bubbly sort of charisma that made him want to grin, and cheer and take on anything that came his way. It felt…strangely familiar.

While Izuku had been trying to decipher the approaching mind, he'd failed to notice the sound of footsteps, growing faster as they sprinted towards the room with ever increasing speed. The door was pulled open with a clatter and All Might flung himself into the room.

"I AM…Coming through the door like a normal person."

And the emotions in the room went wild.

"It's All Might!"

"That's right, they said All Might was teaching here!"

"All Might is going to teach the hero course!"

"All right nerd, don't pass out."

Izuku wheezed slightly and looked helplessly at Kacchan who had just socked him in the shoulder.

"You've met him before." Kacchan continued.

"Oh, come on," Izuku whispered, eyes not leaving All Might and fingers already reaching for a pen to sketch out All Might in his Silver Age costume. "Like you're not equally excited."

"Hero Basic Training." All Might announced, flipping his cloak over one shoulder and pushing out his chest. His eyes passed over the classroom, taking in the looks of awe, and took on a mischievous sparkle that Izuku could almost recognise. "The course that will mould you into the heroes of tomorrow and, for today there is only one thing that you will need to worry about."

The eyes were shining with mischief again and Izuku was really starting to find that expression familiar.

"Battle Training!" All Might announced, whipping a card out of his pocket and brandishing it at the room.

Next to Izuku, Kacchan was starting to get a really, really, really, creepy grin on his face.

"Now get dressed and meet me in Training Ground Three!" All Might shot them his trademark grin as draws opened up in the wall, revealing boxes labelled with their student numbers. Izuku almost dropped his pen he was so excited. He was finally going to get to wear his Hero Costume.


	13. Chapter 13

Izuku's hero outfit was truly a work of art. It was a culmination of his and his mother's best efforts and was outfitted with as many gadgets and gizmos that they could cram into it without making it a fire hazard. Well, it was a bit of a fire hazard. But an intentional one.

The outfit was made up of a dark brown vest shirt and equally dark brown baggy pants, both made out of a stiff material that his mum had put together. They were lined with thin wire mesh that would serve as a sort of light-weight body armour. His shoes were crimson and came to about mid-calf and he'd invented them himself in a red-bull fuelled, sleepless weekend.

A thick belt covered in utility packs strapped around his waist and around his head went aviator-style goggles with a brown leather strap and red lenses. Round his wrists he snapped a pair of arm guards, they were metal and lined with some really soft material. They monitored his vitals, the room temperature and the level of background radiation.

Over the top of it all was the Coat. It was a beautiful thing, based on some of the old timey velvet creations of the Victorian era. His mum had made it out of a dark green material and fitted it with brass buttons and a wealth of hidden pockets. Over the top of it she had painstakingly stitched Gallifreyan writings, words for luck and love and courage.

"Deku! Is that your Hero costume, it's so cool!" Uraraka squee'd as he came running out onto the field. He'd been lingering over the Gallifreyan and so had been the last one to leave the classroom.

"Oh, thanks." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "So's yours, I love the space theme."

Uraraka blushed right back. "Thank you."

She was wearing a black leotard with pink accents, a chunky pink belt and a clear helmet stylised to look a little like an astronaut helmet. Her baggy, thigh high boots did look a little impractical with their kitten heels. Izuku wondered if he might be able to add some sort of accelerator or something into the heels so that she might be able to control her movement better when using her quirk. Although that did assume that she could use her quirk on herself. Not everyone could. Recovery Girl for example, could only heal other people.

"Oh! You look just like a medieval knight!" Izuku said as Iida clanked over to join them in shiny metal armour.

"Did you base your costume after Ingenium? You said he was your brother, right?" Uraraka said.

"Eh?" Katsuki exclaimed. Izuku was glad the other boy hadn't been drinking anything because he would have definitely spat it all over them. "This loser is related to Ingenium?"

"Yeah, he mentioned it this morning." Uraraka said. "Weren't you listening?"

"Che." Katsuki spat, crossing his arms over his naked chest and glaring into the distance.

"That's Kacchan for 'no'." Izuku hissed from behind his hands, dodging behind Iida as Kacchan took a swipe at him.

"Alright class." All Might cut in. "Today we will be working on your indoors battle training. You will be split into teams of two, one playing the hero and the other the villain. I will draw lots to decide teams."

"What are you wearing?" Izuku hissed at Katsuki as All Might started to divvy up the teams.

"My hero outfit?"

"Why are you naked?"

"Shuddup." Katsuki snapped, hair bristling in anger as Uraraka burst into hastily smothered giggles. "I'm wearing a shirt."

Izuku shot a derisive look at Katsuki's skin tight vest top. It was basically plastered to the other guys muscles. Izuku didn't care how armoured Katsuki's legs and forearms were. His entire torso was basically one big target.

"Barely." He replied. "You know as a hero you might have to spend time near children, right?"

"Hey, screw you, steam punk weirdo."

Izuku pulled a face and stuck out his tongue prompting Uraraka to smother another wave of giggles.

"And first we have Bakugou and Iida as Team Villain. Opposing them will be…Uraraka and Midoriya."

Izuku swallowed and Katsuki tossed back his head and laughed. And laughed.

Ah.

Maybe Izuku shouldn't have made that joke about Kacchan's costume.

Katsuki dropped his head back down to let his burning red eyes meet Izuku's.

"You are so dead."

Xxx

"I cannot believe that we have to play the villains."

Katsuki rolled his eyes as Glasses kept banging on. "Yeah, whatever."

"I suppose in the interest of persuing excellence I should commit myself to the role."

"Fine."

"We should come up with a plan though, about how we will deal with the Hero team when they enter the building. We must keep this torpedo out of their hands."

"I have a plan." Katsuki said, adjusting the fit of one of his grenade gauntlets. "I'm gonna find Deku, and I'm gonna kill him. You stay here and guard the bomb."

"Wait!" Glasses said, pushing the mentioned accessory further up his nose and chopping his hands in Katsuki's direction. "I understand that you are displeased by some of the comments that Midoriya made about your inappropriate dress but –"

"Inappropriate?"

"—but our assignment is to work as a team to defeat the heroes and I do not think that your personal issues should interfere with our school performance."

"Oh, will you shut. Up." Katsuki said rolling his body forwards into a loose-limbed stretch.

Glasses gaped at him for a moment, hands frozen in a bizzare 'X' across his face.

"I've known Deku since he was like, four." _Twenty-six, he added to himself._ "We've sparred like three times a week since we were eight. I can take him. You watch the bomb and move it if Round Face gets too close. Got it?"

 _Round Face?_ Iida mouthed to himself.

"And, Start!" All Might's voice boomed through their earpieces and Katsuki grimaced at the feedback and threw himself through the door.

Deku would be coming through the front door. The nerd wouldn't risk coming through a different entrance where there might be no clues as to which way he and Glasses had gone. Not that there would have been any clues either way. Katsuki wasn't an idiot.

At the first sign of green, Katsuki threw himself down the corridor, explosives flickering to life in his palms. Deku ducked, throwing out a hand to push Round Face out of the way. The explosion slammed into the wall just above their heads sending a shrapnel of splinters and dust down on their heads.

"I told you," Deku spat, his goggles pulled down over his eyes and his collar turned up over his mouth. "Just like we planned. Signal me when you're ready."

Katsuki cracked his knuckles. "Oh, you're not going anywhere, shortstack."

"I am not that shor – woah!" Izuku ducked again as Katsuki threw out another small explosive. Katsuki cursed internally, Izuku had ducked forwards not back. It gave him just the opening he needed to grab Katsuki by his arm and throw him over his head.

"Motherfu –" Katsuki choked as the floor slammed into his back.

Izuku grinned down at him, "Just like the beach, right?"

"Yeah," Katsuki snarled, lashing out with one foot to get Deku to back up and then leaping back up to his feet. "I'm still top of that score board, aren't I?"

"Yeah, by _two_!" Deku spluttered.

"Number one is number one." Katsuki countered. He fired off a two-handed explosion and used the moment to swing his legs up and aim a donkey kick at Izuku's torso. His heavy boots hit something metal and Katsuki spring-boarded off whatever it was to jump over Izuku's head and get some distance.

Izuku spun round to keep Katsuki in his sight and taking a fighting stance.

Izuku had a slim metal baton in each hand and was holding them crossed defensively in front of his face. Katsuki frowned, looking him up and down. He hadn't realised that the nerd had hidden weapons beneath that baggy coat of his. He should have though. Deku always did like his tricks.

During the confrontation Uraraka had vanished and Katsuki tapped a hand to his earpiece to turn it on.

"Oi, Glasses. I've got Deku distracted, Round Face is headed in your direction."

"Got it!" Glasses replied. "Also, my name is –"

"Whatever." Katsuki tapped the earpiece again to turn it off.

Deku had shifted, obviously hoping to prevent him from going after Round Face, and it had let Katsuki get a glimpse of Deku's belt. Attached to it were dozens and dozens of round plastic strips that looks a little like glowsticks. Knowing the nerd, they'd be nowhere near that pleasant.

Izuku followed Katsuki's gaze down to his belt. Then he got that stupid grin on his face.

He plucked a bright yellow one off his belt, cracked it like a glowstick and then tossed it in Katsuki's direction, spinning round and sprinting away.

Katsuki swore and leapt back, slamming his eyes shut at the stick let off an ear-splitting boom and flashed sun-bright patterns of light across his closed eyelids.

"What was that?" Glasses demanded into his ear. "Was that you?"

Katsuki groaned and squinted into the dark corridor. Even with his eyes closed and in the dim twilight of the building dark spots still flashed across his vision from the Flash-Bang.

"Freaking Deku." He complained stumbling in the direction the other boy had gone and blinking furiously.

"Get back here, Nerd!" Katsuki yelled, "I'm gonna squish you like a freaking bug. Auntie Inko's gonna be crying on my shoulder at your funeral."

"Okay, Dark." Someone quipped from somewhere ahead and to the side.

Katsuki grinned. Brilliant. He knew the Nerd wouldn't be able to resist making another quip.

He shook his arm slightly, feeling for the sweat levels in his grenades. Brilliant. His trademark sharp grin cut across his face, even as his eyes struggled to see clearly.

"Found You." He snarled, lunging around the corner.

Xxx

"I found it." Uraraka whispered into Izuku's ear. "Fifth floor, the central room. Iida has removed all the objects in the room and there's only one door. He'll see me if I try anything."

Izuku nodded and then remembered that she couldn't see him. "Okay, so we stick with the plan. I can get you a distraction, I just need a few minutes to get to the floor beneath you. Can you avoid Iida that long?"

Her reply was lost as Katsuki came barrelling around the corner, a snarl on his lips and explosions in his hands. Izuku lunged backwards, swinging one baton around to collide heavily with Katsuki's wrist and pin his arm to the wall. His other arm lashed out of the smoke and Izuku staggered backwards with a curse as sharp pain bloomed in his nose.

He plucked another Chem-Stick from his belt and cracked it, tossing it in Kasuki's direction and then scampering backwards as the reaction took hold, this one exploding into a fast-growing foam that would harden quickly on exposure to air. It wouldn't hold Katsuki long, but it would definitely slow him down. Or, at the very least, really annoy him.

He flicked on of his batons closed and stashed it in its holster at the small of his back. He flicked one of the hidden buttons on his goggles and the corridor around him lit up with heat-vision. The walls ahead were dark purple, with all the areas Katsuki's quirk had touched glowing an acidic orange and deep red.

"Don't you even think of running off, Deku." Kacchan barked. The foam had solidified around one arm and leg and Kacchan was tugging at it furiously.

Izuku grinned nervously. He was definitely going to catch hell for this later. Then he took off. A wave of heat followed him down the corridor as Katsuki got tired of pulling and just started exploding the foam off him.

Thick blood trickled down Izuku's chin and each whistled breath sent pain stabbing through his nose. The staircase loomed. Five stories.

Izuku skidded across the smooth floor, kicking the toe of his boot into the heel of the next. There was an almost inaudible click and then the soles of his shoes gave a light hum, vibrating through the soles of his feet, tickling faintly.

Izuku grinned again, leaping upwards, the rockets in his shoes thrusting him higher than he could ever jump. He scrambled to grab the railing on the second floor and then took another frog leap up to the third.

It was on his next jump that something went wrong. A voice screamed his name and then Katsuki collided with him mid-air. Arms wrapped around his waist and a hand buried itself into his hair, yanking his head backwards. Izuku swore as his neck was tugged too far backwards. He scrambled for his baton but their collision had sent it skittering across the fourth floor and his hands met only air.

"Did you make rocket shoes?" Katsuki asked sounding completely incredulous.

Izuku wheezed a breath laugh, trying to wriggle his shoulders higher and ease up some of the pressure on his neck. "of course, I made rocket shoes…see."

Izuku tapped his heels together and the shoes ignited, sending him sliding forwards across the floor in an uncontrollable whirr. The force ripped him right out from underneath Kacchan and Izuku yelped as a handful of his hair was yanked out at the roots. His shoulder collided with the wall and the boots powered down. They were only good for short burst, not sustained travel.

"Will you stop running away!" Katsuki barked, finally reaching the end of his tether. "Come on, nerd, fight me properly."

Izuku may have possibly been a little overboard in plan, Irritate the Hell out of Katsuki. Katsuki was looming in the corridor ahead of them, smoking slightly where he had blown himself up. Bits of hardened foam were clinging to his costume and skin, raining down onto the floor in light flakes.

"That's a good colour on you."

"Shut. Up."

"No, really. It suits you."

Katsuki's face turned an angry scarlet, a colour that clashed terribly with the pink cement still clinging to his chin.

"Okay. Screw fighting." Katsuki swung his arm straight up, gauntlet pointed directly at Izuku's face. "Time to die."

His fingers found the pin, pausing just long enough to give Izuku a chance to catch the move and dodge out of the direct path of the blast.

Izuku slammed his hand against his ear. "Uraraka, get ready, it's now."

Izuku slid forwards, dashing through the space between them, his arm slid out, capture tape winding after it and he looped it around Katsuki's forearm, tugging backwards, his toher hand coming up to push Katsuki's arm upwards. Pin pulled, the explosion shot upwards on its new trajectory. Directly towards the two ruddy-orange blotches that his goggles had identified on the floor above.

The ceiling exploded, rubble and heat shooting upwards and almost smothering Iida's cry of shock. Through the newly made floor Izuku could just about make out Uraraka's triumphant yell, though he couldn't for the life of him tell you what she said.

Katsuki's breath was panting in his ear, his arms trembling faintly with the force of that last explosion. The blood and sweat on Izuku's face was bitter on his lips as the stretched into a wide smile, teeth bared in victory and challenge. Katsuki glared back, arm snagged in capture tape and face smeared in dust and foam.

Above them speakers crackled and then All Might's voice echoed into the room "Hero Team Wins!"


	14. Chapter 14

"That was a dirty trick." Kacchan stated, winding the capture tape around the fingers of his free hand and then tearing them free.

"All my tricks are dirty." Izuku said. "You keep falling for them."

Katsuki scoffed. "You'll run out of them one day."

"Never gonna happen."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow and then casually said; "Watch out."

"Deku, Deku we won!" Uraraka shouted, her voice getting suddenly louder.

"Huh?" Izuku wheezed and collapsed to the floor as Uraraka landed on his back. Katsuki was already bent over and choking with laughter and Iida was peering through the hole above them and making very concerned sounds.

"Ooops." Uraraka said, flopping over on Izuku and making no effort to move. "I didn't realise you were beneath me."

"No problem." Izuku gasped, rubbing at his ribs which had really been put under too much pressure for one day. Uraraka staggered to her feet and held out a hand to help him up. Her face had taken on the green tinge that came from her overusing her quirk and she wobbled on her feet as she pulled herself up.

"Oh, here." Izuku said, rummaging through his pockets and finding a small bottle of lemon-iced tea and a packet of mints. "These should help with the nausea."

"Thanks." Uraraka beamed at him and Izuku blushed and distracted himself with brushing little bits of rubble off his coat. She took the tea but refused the mints, sipping slowly. "You're so prepared."

"Yeah, well, my quirk isn't really good for much, so." Izuku shrugged slightly, spreading his fingers wide. "I'm better with gadgets."

"Speaking of," Katsuki had finally stopped laughing. "You got anything in there that'll deal with this crap." He gestured at the flakes of pink still stubbornly clinging to him. It really had managed to get everywhere. The leg and arm that had been cemented down were the worst, but in Katsuki's flailing bits had streaked and smudged all over. There was pink on his face. There was pink on his grenades. There was pink in his _hair_!

"Right." Izuku started searching through his pockets, he was pretty sure he'd put the dissolver in one of his belt pouches, the only issue was that he couldn't quite remember which one. Out of one he retrieved a wet wipe and started scrubbing the dried blood off his lower lip as he continued to search with his other hand. To the side Uraraka was guiding Iida through clambering down through the hole in the ceiling using the rubble that they'd made when they blasted the ceiling. Apparently, they'd managed to burst through right in front of the door and Iida was having a bit of trouble getting out.

"Aha!" He'd finally found the red-capped vial in one of his coats inside pockets. He tossed it gently at Kacchan who caught it one handed and popped the cap off with his thumb, grimacing a little at the smell.

"This isn't gonna do any weird shit, right? Like I'm not gonna grow chicken feet or go bald if I use it?"

"No." Izuku answered, not quite able to keep the injured pride out of his voice and pointedly refusing to remember the time he'd burnt Kacchan's eyebrows off. He decided not to mention that anywhere the foam had touched skin it would leave a faint residue for about two days. Kacchan would probably figure that out on his own. "It's just vinegar." He finished. "I wanted something relatively easy to get hold of in case I'm not there to de-stick the villains, but also something they're unlikely to have on them."

"Your foresight does you credit." Iida announced, finally joining their group. "the ability to prepare for any eventuality is the essence of what makes a hero. I am only sorry that I was unable to follow your example and be unsurprised by your attack from beneath."

He shoved his hand forwards and, slightly bemused, Izuku shook it. "Erm, thanks. I think you did just fine though, I mean Uraraka told me you'd cleaned up the floor and everything in preparation for her."

"Thank you for your kind words." Iida nearly shouted, blushing faintly, "And you." Iida turned on Katsuki. "As a fellow aspiring hero, you should really watch your language. What sort of example will you be setting to your young fans if you continue in this manner?"

Kacchan scoffed, pausing in rubbing vinegar on the cement on his arms to flip Iida off. Iida spluttered and Uraraka was barely able to clamp both of her hands across her mouth before the snort burst out. Izuku sighed. At least he could rely on the fact that Kacchan would never change.

"Erm, we should probably head back out, right?" He said. "All Might will be wanting to start the next match, won't he? And I think he said something about going over each match?"

"Oh. Yes." Iida's face dropped, an aura of despair surrounding him as he started to mumble about his failures during the task. It made the look on his face when he was announced MVP that much more satisfying.

Xxx

Yagi hated grocery shopping. Inside his shopping basket the single packet of brown rice sat depressingly alone in the corner, the basket swinging against his leg as he carried it through the store. A small block of cheese. A bunch of spring onions. One potato. He was just trying to pick between two boxes of low-sugar breakfast bars when the jingling of a door and a burst of loud laughter announced the presence of another customer.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yagi caught sight of sunflower-spike and green curls and turned to see his two favourite students crowding each other down the aisle. A teacher shouldn't have favourites but truthfully, ever since he had meet them over the summer, Yagi had harboured a soft spot for the two boys. Part of him even wondered if one of them might one day…but no.

Young Midoriya laughed again and Yagi watched as Bakugou explosively mimed something with his hands. The scene ended with Bakugou clapping both hands together and then cackling. Yagi winced, the motion that Bakugou had made looked an awful lot like the way that Sero had accidently swung himself into a wall during his fight.

Finally decided on the raspberry, Yagi put the other box back on the shelf and made his way over to the counter. It didn't really matter. They all tasted like cardboard anyway. But Nedzu had been nagging him about his health lately and he _had_ been skipping a lot of meals.

"Oh, it's Mr Yagi, hi Mr Yagi!" Midoriya waved and slid behind him in the queue. The movement jostled the overladen pile of groceries in his arms and two onions dropped onto the floor, rolling along to bounce off Bakugou's foot.

"Watch it, Deku." Bakugou chastised, scooping up the onions and adding them back to Midoriya's pile. "Hi." He grunted towards Yagi, riffling through the yen in his wallet for the right amount.

"I haven't seen you in ages, Mr Yagi." Midoriya chatted as they waited. There was still a dark blue bruise stretched across the boy's nose but thankfully it no longer seemed to pain him. "Not since we cleaned the beach. I never even got a chance to say thank you for helping us with the beach. Oh, you should come to dinner at ours, Mum won't mind. We're having curry. I should get some more stuff."

"Ah, my boy, that's –"

Midoriya piled his armful into Yagi's basket, casting an analytic eye over Yagi's body and lingering over his side. "No sugar, low salts, fats and spices, right?"

"How did you –"

"Back in a minute." Midoriya chirped before sprinting back down an aisle, his trainers squeaking loudly on the linoleum floors.

Yagi blinked down at his now overflowing basket and then over at Bakugou who was staring back at him with the pinched expression of someone who was well used to this behaviour. He scooped Yagi's basket of the ground and then shuffled another step forwards in the queue without commenting.

"How did he know?" Yagi found himself asking. One hand pressed against his ruined side, cupping the gaping scar that remained hidden beneath his billowing shirt.

Bakugou shrugged, "You did vomit blood the first time we met. Plus when you were lifting the trash into your truck you favoured one side. Izuku figured there was something wrong with your stomach." Bakugou tilted his head back to examine the florescent lights above them. "Actually, he listed off a bunch of other reasons as well, but I wasn't really paying attention."

"Right." Yagi frowned. He'd never noticed the boy picking those things up. Most people were too distracted by his hallow appearance to question why he looked like he did. "I really shouldn't come over on such short notice though. It would be very inconsiderate."

"Nah," Bakugou shuffled forwards again. "Auntie Inko won't mind. She likes a full house. My parents work late so they'll drop by for something to eat later. Plus Deku's impossible once he gets an idea in his head. You might as well just go along with it."

Yagi's frown deepened. "Yes, but –"

"I'm back!" Midoriya announced, skidding to a stop next to them and tumbling another pile of produce into the already full basket. "I got a bunch of different stuff." He turned his earnest eyes onto Yagi. "I wasn't sure what you would like."

Yagi felt himself fold like a house of cards. He was beginning to see how Midoriya had maintained such a close friendship with the more abrasive Bakugou. "Thank you, my boy."

In the end Ms Midoriya was indeed thrilled to have another person at the table. The Midoriya household was a far cry from Yagi's cold apartment. The rooms were warm and light and filled noise and the smell of cooking. Halfway through the meal Masaru Bakugou had wandered in, dropped an absent-minded kiss onto young Bakugou's head and then helped himself to a bowl. Not twenty minutes later his wife, Mitsuki had done the same and promptly got into a fight with her son about the exact ratio of curry to rice that ought to be in a bowl.

Yagi had left the dinner with a pot of curry pressed into his hands, four new numbers programmed onto his phone and a standing invitation to Tuesday dinner. An invitation that he wasn't sure he was strong enough to refuse.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, another chapter up! So I know some of you have mentioned not really knowing much about Dr Who so I just wanted to give you a bit of a heads up for this chapter.**

 **In the DW universe it is established that a Time Lord's name is secret and that they chose their own name to be known by, e.g. The Doctor. Because we have never learned the Doctor's true name a lot of people have headcannoned it as being Theta. Sticking with that theme I've been using ancient alphabets for the TimeLord's true names, and their chosen names can be anything they choose.**

 **Don't worry about it getting too complicated, the Time Lords mentioned in this chapter aren't actually going to show up, they're just people from Gallifrey that Izuku and Inko used to know.**

Somehow the anniversary always managed to sneak up on him.

Well, that wasn't quite the issue. The war had waged for so very, very, long that what did you really consider the anniversary? The day the war began? That was long before Izuku was born. It had waged at the fringes of their galaxy, far beyond any civilian's concern. The day that the Dalek's broke through into Arcadia? That was the moment that the war became real for him. The day he and his family tried to run? The day that the Nightmare Child broke free of its eternal chains? Or the day that finally ended it all? The day that he felt an entire planet burning inside his head?

Which one day can possibly signify the end of everything?

In any case, the day that Izuku thought of as the Anniversary, really thought of the anniversary, was the day that his Mum put him and his sister in a TARDIS alone and plotted a course for Earth.

He didn't need a calendar. Not for that day. Besides, the date wouldn't be the sae here anyway. But he always knew. He woke with the knowledge burning inside his hearts and with the dead tethers of his family bonds twisting in his mind. There was only one left now. A single scarlet strand that he blindly followed until it led him to his SisterMum's bedroom door.

He didn't knock. Just pressed his palms against the rough wood and leant his forehead against it until he remembered where and when he was.

Fire flickered behind his eyelids and screams in his ears. His little sister's hand had been so small. His father had sounded so broken as he begged. The golden wisps of regeneration had shimmered on the smoke all around them and never felt so much like an ending. His stomach and throat had burned with the force of his sobs. They'd choked him. So much that he'd thought he would die from it. So much that his ears had rung from them for days after. It took a moment to realise that the sobs he was hearing weren't just coming from his memories.

The door creaked as he pushed it open. Inko had left the curtains open, she liked to sleep in the starlight, and a chink of moonlight had invaded the room. The dusty shine illuminated the lump of duvet and blanket, curled in the centre of the bed and shaking faintly.

Izuku stepped forwards, one hand automatically reaching out just as his mind did the same. "Ksi'an?" He whispered.

The shaking stopped and Inko, Ksi'an, Mum's face unfurled from the layers. Her eyes were blotchy, her face pale. Tears had dried on her face and evaporated into the same exhausted, dry sobbing that had been their only companion all those days inside that spaceship.

"Djed'an." Inko whispered back, uncurling enough to lift the duvet and raise her arm in invitation.

Izuku slid into the warmth and she curled around him, one hand cradling his head, the other pulling the blankets back over the top of them both. His hands clutched helplessly at her pyjama top and they tangled together beneath the sheets, both shaking helplessly.

Inko, Ksi, Mum, pressed her lips against his hair and pressed their minds together, filling him with the warm silver of the trees, the scarlet grass, the heady warmth of their two suns. And then, they began.

"Jeru'an." Inko whispered. _The youngest of them. Their little sister._

"Kap'an, Mem'an." Izuku responded. _In all his memories his brothers were together. Even in death._

"Jayin'an." _Mother._

"Resh'an." _Father._ Izuku's voice shuddered over the name. His father had tried so, so hard to save them.

"Isaz'ana. Opila'ana." Inko closed her eyes as she spoke, a flash of red and the steps of a traditional Gallifreyan dance lingering in her thoughts. The twins had been Inko's best friends. The three of them had gotten into so much trouble when their parents had found out that they'd swapped names. They weren't blood. Telling was almost as binding as a marriage contract.

"Centella." Izuku added. She'd been one of his nursery minders. She'd once told him she'd chosen her name just to annoy her older sister who had also named herself after a plant. "And Camomilla."

"Gallant." Inko laughed over the name, but it turned to a sob before it could fully leave her mouth. He'd been their brother's first crush. Mum had absolutely hated his chosen name. Dad used to say that a warrior who named herself Gladius had no room to talk. Then again, he was a healer who had named himself Panacea. Neither were good at naming things.

They listed names until their voices were hoarse, until the alarm rang that morning and they had exhausted every last memory. There was no memorial. No Burial. There was only this. Two lost children listing names into the dark.

Xxx

It was that time of year again. Deku had spent the whole day in a fuzz. He'd wandered passed this morning's reporters without even noticing them. Present Mic had had to ask him the same question three times before he'd answered and Katsuki wasn't even sure if Deku was aware that he'd been voted class president that morning.

Katsuki checked to make sure that Present Mic was distracted and then risked another glance at Izuku, catching sight of Round Face doing the same on his other side. Deku was paler then usual, which only made the deep purple rings around his eyes stand out further. His hair was a mess and his shirt was rumpled and creased like he'd slept in it. Which, considering that it'd been Katsuki's shoulder he'd napped on in the train, wasn't that far from the truth.

The bell rang for lunch and Shitty-Hair, Lightning-Head and Racoon-Eyes sprinted for the door. Lightning slammed into Izuku on his way out, jostling his shoulder and tipping his text book off the desk. Round-Face glared after them with an intensity that Katsuki was almost impressed with. She might even be worth upgrading to a name one of these days.

"Excuse me!" Glasses barked after them, hands already waving erratically. "Running in the hallways is forbidden. Cease and Desist!"

His voice trailed off as he exited the classroom after the troublemakers. Katsuki rolled his eyes. He was never ever gonna learn that guy's name.

Izuku hadn't moved. Katsuki didn't even think that he'd noticed getting bumped into. He was just drawing those weird endless circles that he was always scribbling in his notebook. Katsuki scooped up the toppled textbook and placed it firmly on the page, directly in front of the line that Izuku's pencil was meandering down.

Izuku blinked and looked up. His eyes were cloudy and barely focused, but he was looking up. That was a start.

"Hey Deku," Round Face chirped. She sounded perfectly happy and excited but, behind her back, Katsuki could see where her fingers were digging into the wrist of her other arm. He kicked at her sneaker and she turned to glare at him but, importantly, stopped doing it. Deku would worry if he saw it.

"Oy," Katsuki said, taking advantage of Deku's attention. "It's lunch. I ain't missing a chance to eat something made by Lunch Rush 'cause you're having a mood."

"Katsuki!" Round-Face hissed.

Katsuki ignored her and jostled the table leg until it screeched. "C'mon Deku, I'm hungry, let's go already."

"Oh," Izuku glanced up at the front of the room where there was a conspicuous lack of Present Mic. He fumbled for his books and his bag. "Right, sorry, I was day dreaming, I guess. I'm coming."

Katsuki tossed his bag over one shoulder. "Yeah, Yeah, Whatever." He said starting to meander in the direction of the lunch room. Round Face was already looping her arm around Deku's and pulling him along with her, keeping up a nonstop stream of chatter all the way.

The cafeteria was already packed, but Glasses and some of the other extras had already grabbed a table and was saving them a spot. Probably. Either way Katsuki was gonna sit in it.

"Stew or Curry?" Katsuki tossed over his shoulder, scooping up two trays.

"Huh?" Round Face was staring at him with her weird little chipmunk cheeks and a look of abject confusion on her face.

"Not you." He said. Deku was off in dream land again so Katsuki slipped one onto each tray and then grabbed a cookie and a muffin and then an orange juice and an iced tea and made his way over to the table, jerking his head in a silent order for Deku to follow.

Izuku meandered after him and took a seat, absently pulling the tray with curry on it towards him. Katsuki switched the muffin for the cookie and then pushed the orange juice onto Izuku's tray. The table was suspiciously silent and Round Face was staring at him with the sort of watery, wide eyed gaze that girls usually reserved for cute, cuddly, animals.

"What?" He barked, slamming his spoon into his stew and glaring around the table. "Got something to say?"

"Nope," Round Face cooed like the patronising, evil mastermind that she was. "I just think it's sweet how much you care for Izuku."

"Yeah." Shitty-Hair chimed in. "It's like, Super Manly, bro."

Katsuki bristled and took an angry bite of his stew, resigned to ignoring everyone at that table.

"So, it was so cool to finally get to do a normal High-School thing, right?" Round-Face bubbled taking a satisfied bite of her food. "Picking a class president."

"Yes," Glasses agreed, clenching his fists in another of his dramatic moments. "I am disappointed that I did not get chosen however I am sure that Midoriya will carry this torch with the dignity that it deserves."

"I'm carrying the what now?" Deku said, finally pulling himself out of his head. There was a smear of curry on his cheek, but his eyes were cleared than they had been all day.

"The class presidency." Glasses explained.

Izuku blinked. "We have a class president, who's the class president?"

Katsuki sighed as everyone at the table froze in shock, then, carefully moving his tray to the side, Katsuki wacked his head down on the table repeatedly.

"I – but – you." Glasses spluttered even as Shitty-Hair burst into hysterical laughter.

"What?" Izuku asked.

Round Face giggled and was just starting to explain when a loud, piercing wail split the canteen.

XXX

Izuku jolted at the alarm, his elbow knocking his curry off the table as he scrambled onto the table and grabbed his sonic out of his pocket.

"What was that?" He asked, clutching the pen as the rest of the room went wild, students sprinting for the exits in a mad stampede. "What's going on?"

"It's fine." Kacchan said, joining him on the table and tugging Uraraka up by the collar before she could get swept away in the crowd. He narrowed his eyes at the panicking crowd and scoffed. "Amateurs."

"Ah, excuse me?" Iida called, clambering up with them and peering around for a teacher or something. The table rocked madly as the torrent surged past. "Excuse me, can someone tell us what that alarm is please?"

"It's a level three security breach!" An upperclassman yelled as he ran past. "It's never happened in all my time here. Hurry up and run."

Izuku yelped at the table shook under their weight and the vicious shaking from the panicking students and it was only Kirishima's grip on his sleeve and Kacchan's weight against his side that stopped him from tumbling over.

"Wait, wait, wait." Izuku hissed. In the midst of the huddle someone had gone down, he caught sight of a flash of purple hair crumbling beneath the wave and then he was moving, ignoring Katsuki's shout of alarm as he leapt off the table and started ducking through the crowds.

He hissed in as he was instantly crushed. Elbows and knees and backpacks slammed into his shoulders and sides and spin as he wriggled his way forwards. He stumbled forwards into the suddenly empty space, toppling over and landing heavily on his forearms before he could squish the boy he'd come to help.

"Are you okay?" He asked, staring into shocked grey eyes.

Someone's knee slapped into the back of his head. He yelped and ducked down, using one hand as a cover while the other one fumbled in his pockets.

The boy beneath him hissed as someone stomped on his hand in the made rush. There was already a dark purple bruise blooming across his pale cheekbone where he had been slammed into the ground.

"Cover your ears." Izuku hissed at him, his fingers finally closing around the sonic. He flicked one of the buttons. "Dial up the sound and…"

Izuku ducked his head further down, stuck his sonic as far into the air as he could and pressed down. A grainy shriek filled the air, throbbing through the hall and freezing everyone in their tracks as they stopped rushing to exit and instead rushed to clamp their hands over their ears.

The noise died out and in the wake of the chaos Izuku could just make out Iida's voice, echoing out across the room. "Please remain calm, it is just the Press! Comport yourselves in a manner that is more befitting of this institute –"

"Ah," Izuku suddenly realised, scrambling back off the other boy and crouching on his heels. "I'm sorry! Are you okay? I didn't hurt you or anything did I? It's just I saw you fall and with the crowd and everything I was afraid you were going to get crushed!"

The other boy gave him a startled look. It was one that, between the babbling and the technology Izuku was very useful. However, the mane of uncontrollable purple hair and the sharp corners of his eyes gave Izuku the impression of a particularly confused cat.

Without saying a word the other boy scrambled to his feet and disappeared into the crowds.


	16. Chapter 16

**A couple of people have requested more info on Izuku's hero costume, drawing is not my forte, but I've done a rough sketch of the costume! You can find it on my Archive account or on my Tumblr if you're interested, I'm still Update Bug on both. Also, we finally reach the USJ! From here on out cannon is about to start getting very funky.**

"Everyone! Please line up before you enter the bus!" Iida demanded, clanking about in his armour and waving his arms.

"Isn't that the President's job, Ribbit." Tsuyu cut in and Iida instantly deflated.

"Right, Of course!" Iida declared, springing back upright to the classes' general surprise and amusement. "My apologies Midoriya, Please, Go ahead."

Izuku shuffled to the front of the bus, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to look slightly less nervous. It helped that Kacchan was in the crowd. Izuku probably shouldn't be encouraging his behaviour, but the fact that he would beat the crap out of anyone who heckled did make staring down a crowd of his peers easier.

"Okay, so," He stuttered, pulling a crumpled fold of paper out of one of the front pockets on his coat. "I know this is only a trip on the school grounds, but I thought it would be good practise for future ones, so I put together a buddy system based on seat numbers."

"Lame." Someone called and Izuku folded his arms. Of course, the system only worked if Kacchan wasn't the one doing the heckling. "C'mon Deku what are we, five?"

Izuku scowled and missed Ururaka doing the same in the crowd.

"I think that it is a wonderful idea!" Iida scolded. "You should not dismiss someone for –"

"Yeah!" Kirishima chimed in. "Being prepared is super-manly."

Izuku fought down a snicker at the disgruntled look on Kacchan's face and unfolded his paper. "okay, so if everyone could pair up with the person next to them in the class number? Um, Yaoaruzu you're with me," He muttered to his Vice-President who was already standing next to him. "Because we have an uneven number, we should have one group of three and I thought that could be you, Ururaka, Tsuyu and Iida? If that's okay?"

"Yep!"

"Of course."

"Right." Izuku scratched the back of his neck and shoved the paper back into his pocket. The whole class had paired up at this point, even if Kacchan was standing next to an empty school uniform with a thunderous scowl on his face and Todoroki wasn't even looking at his partner. "So normal buddy rules apply. If something goes wrong grab hold of your buddy and make your way over to the meet up point which I guess will be the bus? And I guess that's everything? So, um, everyone get onto the bus and have a good time?"

Izuku tapped Yaoaruzu on the elbow and gestured to the back of the line so that they could make sure that everyone actually made it onto the bus.

This was going to be their first proper excursion as a class. Rescue training. Izuku would have been excited for it but he hadn't been able to sleep that night either. He'd slipped back into his mum's bed and they'd listed names until they fell asleep again. Sometimes he worried he would forget one. He had been so young when they left, sometimes he couldn't remember if it had been his mother's third reincarnation that had had brown eyes or her fourth. Had father's recipe for Birthday Time-Cakes been made with pecans or were they the ones made by the lady down the street who had been so kind and whose name neither Izuku or Inko could remember.

"Hey, Izuku." Tsuyu said, jolting him back to the present more firmly that the trundling rhythm of the bus ever could. "You know I'm a pretty blunt person, right?"

"Um, yes?" Izuku agreed, glancing nervously at Kacchan.

"You kind of remind me of All Might."

Izuku choked on his own spit, eyes bulging out of his head as tied to catch his breath, only distantly aware of Kacchan gaping in shock next to him.

"Um," He managed to stutter. "Why?"

"I don't know." Tsuyu said, tilting her head and blinking at him slowly with her large round eyes. "I just think you have a similar spark. You're both super charismatic and give off this aura of knowing what to do. You saved that boy during the stampede, didn't you?"

Izuku shrugged, he could feel his cheeks heating up and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat so that he could have something to do with his hands. "I mean yeah, but Iida was the one who got everyone to stop panicking and Kacchan got everyone up on the table." Everyone was still looking at him and he blushed darker. "I just don't really think that we're really anything alike."

"Yeah," Kirishima butt in, shooting Izuku an apologetic glance. "Like, no offence, your Quirk is super cool and everything. But, it's not exactly super strength or anything."

"I mean he does smile a lot when he fights." Ashido said. Squinting at Izuku. "That's sort of like All Might."

"Yeah but All Might does it to be reassuring." Kirishima jabbed a thumb in Izuku's direction. "This guy does it to annoy Kacchan."

"The fuck did you say?" Katsuki snapped, lunging towards him. Izuku caught him by the arm and tugged him back down with a murmured "Be nice".

"No-one calls me Kacchan," Kacchan yelled, still flailing to get in a hit. "Stupid fucking Shitty-Hair."

"Izuku calls you Kacchan." Kirishima pointed out, blithely undeterred by his narrow risk with death. Izuku guessed that was what you got with an indestructible Quirk. "How come he can?"

"Oh, that is correct." Iida adjusted his glasses and leaned over Kirishima to look at Katsuki. "During our hero exercise you mentioned that you and Midoriya were childhood friends."

"How'd that happen?" Tsuyu asked, blinking again as Iida, unaware of the can of worms he had just unleased, leaned backwards.

"Indeed." That came from the Sparkle-Guy, Aoba? Aoyama? Izuku would really have to get everyone's names straight at some point. "Izuku is so calm and responsible and your personality is soooo…"

He trailed off with a meaningful look at Katsuki that only got him riled up again.

"Shitty?" Tsuyu supplied.

Izuku sighed as the bus started to slow. Clearly most of his class president responsibilities would be stopping the inevitable massacre. "We're here."

Xxx

The first sign that they had accidently walking into a giant clusterfuck was when that big black portal swirled out of nowhere and started spitting villains at them.

Admittedly this was a pretty obvious sign. You know, like the ones in bright neon colours with flashing images and lightbulbs around them. The point was that Katsuki didn't exactly have time to think of a decent metaphor when he was sprinting after Thirteen with the rest of his classmates. He kept one hand wrapped around Invisi-Girl's wrist, dragging her with him and ignoring the way she dragged behind him as she struggled to keep up.

Around him he had noticed that most of the class had also stuck close to their buddy, damn Deku's necessary system. He was gonna be so smug about that later once he chilled the fuck out.

Darkness swirled in front of them and Katsuki slammed to a halt, bracing himself for Invisi-Girl's weight as she crashed into his back. He narrowed his eyes at the villain in front of him. Deku would have a field day with analysing it. It was some sort of mist, collected into a vaguely humanoid shape and pulled tight at the middle with a clunky metal belt.

He loomed menacingly in front of the leaders of the pack. Glasses, Round-Face and Lightning-Hair, all of whom cowered back at his appearance. Katsuki's palms ached with the need to smash the glowing eyes of the Freak's face but he couldn't do that and keep a hand on Invisi-Girl.

"I'm afraid that that is quite far enough." The Mist Fucker said, scanning those creepy glowing eyes across the students.

"Um. Why?"

Up until that moment Katsuki had been proud to say that he'd never shared a moment of complete moment with a villain. And then he and the Mist-Fuck both shot Deku the exact same look of stunned disbelief.

Izuku edged forwards, putting himself in front That Vice President girl and holding his arm out to keep the rest of the class back. There was a murmur of dismay from somewhere and then someone, probably Round-Face, whispered; "Izuku what are you doing?"

But no one moved. Not even the villain. Maybe it was the shock. Maybe it was just that no one wanted to be the first one to break the moment. Behind them there was a yell from where they'd left Aizawa with the villains and the moment broke.

"I mean," Deku continued, moving forwards. "We're just kids, not even heroes or anything. What do you really gain from keeping us here? You said you wanted All Might, right? But he's not here and you're blocking the signal so it's not like he even knows to come. Wouldn't it be better for you to let us go? We'd tell him villains were attacking and he'd come running."

Deku's voice had taken on that commiserating tone he sometimes got when he was trying to convince someone that he agreed with them but, as he moved forwards, the hand that wasn't held out at his side had slipped behind his back. If there was one thing Katsuki had learned it was that you never, ever let Deku put his hands where you couldn't see them. You never knew what they'd come back with. The hand slid into a long slit that Katsuki had never noticed in the back of the coat and came back holding one of his batons.

"It makes sense, doesn't it," Deku continued, edging another step forward. Katsuki felt his face turn to stone as he forced the bloodthirsty anticipation off it, angling forwards slightly in preparation to lunge. "Then we all win, you get to fight All Might and we get to leave."

Izuku took one more step, hand tightening around his baton and Katsuki flicked the safety on his grenades off. The Mist-Fucker actually looked like he was considering it. Though it's pretty hard to tell when someone's just a pair of eyeballs floating in a face. It looked like some of the others were getting a fucking clue too. Shitty Hair had edged behind Glasses and turned himself to stone. Round-Face had that intense look about her that meant she was raring up. Then someone had to go and ruin it all.

"Wait!" Thirteen shouted, skidding to a stop behind them.

Izuku startled at the shout and turned, flashing the villain a glimpse of the weapon in his hand. The villain cackled as Thirteen held out his hand and released his Quirk.

The mist exploded around them and Katsuki tightened his grip on Invisi-Girl, yanking her towards him even as he saw Deku lunging for his buddy and wrapping himself around her.

Then the dark covered his eyes and all he saw was black.


	17. Chapter 17

**Told you canon would start to go a bit wonky. Not sure when I'm going to get the next chapter up, but I hope you like this one. Also, I wacked up another picture on AO3 and Tumblr. It's basically Izuku's Gallifreyan family at the ages they were when Gallifrey was destroyed.**

Landslide Zone

"What's going on?" Hagakure asked, blearily pulling herself upwards into a sitting position and staring around with fuzzy eyes.

The last thing she remembered was Bakugou pulling her along, that villain releasing his Quirk and then a swirling blackness.

She groaned and clutched at her head as it throbbed painfully, wincing at the ache in the arm Bakugou had squeezed as she moved. Her bare feet brushed against the dusty ground as she rolled onto her knees. There was something odd about that, but she couldn't quite think of it just yet.

She had been propped up against the bricks of a collapsed building. It was half submerged beneath mud and debris, but she had been carefully placed in an out of the way nook that was unlikely to shift or collapse when she moved.

She staggered to her feet and leant heavily on the wall to keep her balance, stumbling forwards. She tripped when she reached the front of the alley, just managing to catch herself before she fell and whimpering again at the throb of pain in her head. She might have a concussion. Her head was still throbbing painfully and when her fingers prodded tentatively at the spot, they encountered a puffy, swollen lump. She looked down to see what she had tripped on and saw her gloves and shoes stacked together in a neat pile.

Oh. That was what she was trying to remember earlier. Her feet and fingers were bare. Someone had removed them so they didn't give her away. Which meant…something.

There was a loud snarl, a crack and then a large male was thrown past the lip of the alleyway, scorch marks on his arms and a terrifying snarl on his face.

Lunging after them was Bakugou, explosions snapping between his palms and bloodthirsty smile resplendent on his face.

Hagakure shrank back into the wall even though she knew that they wouldn't be able to see her. That was why her boots and gloves had been removed, Bakugou must have done it so that the villains couldn't find her.

It was almost sweet.

For all that Bakugou had slagged off Midoriya's buddy plan he was certainly taking it seriously.

Hagakure blinked furiously to stop the world from spinning and then she stooped down and picked up a brick from the rubble. She might not be on top form, but she was in the hero course. She could take out some two-bit villains who were already distracted by the fact that Bakugou kept setting them on fire.

Mountain Zone

"Woah, woah, woah." Sero yelped, swinging his tape out and snagging Jiro on the arm, yanking her back before she could get his by one of the villains. He put her back to her feet and the two of them backed up into Kaminari and Ojiro and glared out at the group of villains circling them.

They had toppled through the portal right on top of the mountain zone and dead in the centre of a group of villains. There were at least thirty-five enemies and only four of them. It was not great odds.

The best that they could manage at the moment was just keeping them at a distance. Which, considering that they were all close to mid-range fighters, wasn't great for them.

Jiro was swiping out with the Tanto she kept strapped to her leg, odd choice for a hero but it was certainly effective. Ojiro obviously had martial arts training, he was jumping and flipping about, his tail giving him extra range. It was also muscular enough that getting hit with it was probably about the same as getting hit with a metal bat.

Sero whipped his tape out and managed to wrap it around one of the villains, whipping him to the side and into two others that were trying to creep up on their left. He snipped the tape off and chucked it away so it tangled in the legs of another villain and brought all four of them down in a struggling cocoon.

"I'm trying to get through but someone's blocking the signal." Kaminari yelled, tapping the communicator on his ear and lashing out with a hand that crackled with electricity when it looked like a mutant villain was getting too close.

"New plan then." Jiro snapped. She grabbed Kaminari by the bicep and flung him forwards into the advancing group.

"Damnit." Kaminari wailed, even as he sparked up and electrified the villain he collapsed into.

Sero grinned. It was a little evil. "Good plan." He said, tagging Kaminari and pulling hard on the tap to swing him around in a circle of electricity and lightning. It was a good thing his tape wasn't conductive.

"Bad Plan!" Kaminari yelped as he spun. "Bad Plan!"

Conflagration Zone

"What a tortuous inferno of hell." Tokoyami brooded staring at the flames that surrounded them.

Todoroki's eyebrow twitched at the overdramatic comment, trying desperately not to snap at his classmate. The flame was making him edgy. And it was drying him out. He would have to deal with the villains quickly before it got any worse.

The two of them had holed up in a building that wasn't burning too badly, hiding in a downstairs room that had yet to catch and peering out through the glass-less windows at the villains that were lurking around outside.

"Are you going to be any help, or not." Todoroki asked as Tokoyami brooded out the window at the lingering villains. They weren't making a move yet. Probably didn't know what quirks they had.

"I am afraid that I cannot. My Quirk is vulnerable to light. Truly this is the darkest time."

Okay. That time Todoroki really did roll his eyes.

"Fine." He said. "I'll do it by myself."

The next breath he breathed out hung cold and heavy on the air, misting amidst the smoke. The temperature plummeted.

Outside the villains yelped as they were consumed in ice and, across the conflagration zone, fires spluttered out as the cold consumed them.

Tokoyami began to shiver, his feathers puffing up to keep him warm and expanding his face to twice the size. Todoroki was careful not to let his mouth twitch in amusement. Though it was interesting to see how similar to a bird he actually was.

Ice crunched beneath his feet as Todoroki climbed out through the window.

"W-w-w-what kind of monster are youuu?" One of the villains stuttered, teeth chattering and attempting to shiver within his ice prison.

Todoroki scoffed but didn't answer. He had thought that seeing as these guys were spouting about killing All Might that they might put up a bit more of a fight.

Flood Zone

Ururaka coughed miserably as Tsuyu dragged her up over the side of the boat. Iida was already there, pacing nervously and staring out at the villain filled water.

"What's happening?" Ururaka spluttered, spitting out water as Tsuyu rubbed her soothingly on the back. There had been a villain with a shark quirk in the water, he had been right underneath her when she fell into the water. All she had seen had been those wide, sharp, teeth rushing at her face and then Tsuyu's tongue had been around her waist, yanking her back.

"Villains have infiltrated the USJ. We have been separated from our classmates and our teachers. And do not know where they are. The boat that we ae standing on is surrounded by villains that seemingly have quirks suitable for water and the only one of us with an equitable quirk is Asui." Iida summed up, stopping his pacing in order to stare contemplatively out across the water.

A wave rocked the boat violently and Ururaka cried out in shock as she was sent stumbling sideways. She smoothed the wet hair back out of her face and looked between them. What would Deku do?

"Okay," She said, squeezing the sleeves of her one-piece to get some of the extra water out. "What do we have? Iida, I know you have engines in your legs, but Tsuyu what about you?"

"I have a frog quirk, Ribbit." Tsuyu explained, sticking out her tongue. "I can do everything that a frog can. Plus, my tongue is prehensile and strong, I can use it to swing around."

The boat rocked again and someone from off the boat yelled something, followed by a smattering of laughter from the surrounding villains.

Ururaku looked between Tsuyu, who still had her tongue sticking out and Iida's engine legs. Then she glanced down at the thick pink pads of her fingers.

"I think," She began hesitantly, "That I have an idea."

Downpour Zone

Koda shrunk back into his collar, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to shield himself from some of the rain.

"Don't worry, bro!" Kirishima assured him, bumping him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here soon."

"We can only hope." Aoyama whined. "This rain is completely unfabulous."

Aoyama certainly looked miserable. His blond hair had darkened to a muddy brown and his cloak was so sodden that it hung thick and heavy around his shoulders and slapped against his arms and back whenever he moved. Mina looked just as miserable. Her skin-tight leotard didn't offer much protection from the cold rain and even the furry collar had started to look more like a downed rat than an article of clothing.

They reached another turn and Kirishima edged to the front and peered round. They'd managed to avoid most of the villains so far, though there had been a few times when it had been a close call. As terrible as the downpour was, at least it messed with the villains eye-sight as much as it did theirs.

"Bugger." Kirishima hissed. Then, instead of ducking back behind the building, he threw himself forwards.

Koda shuffled forwards, peering around the corner. They had reached a courtyard where several alleyways intersected and in the very centre Sato and Shoji were vastly outnumbered. Sato collapsed to his knees at a strike to the back of his legs and Kirishima barrelled into the villain that had downed him with a vicious holler.

Mina cackled and flung herself forwards, acid dripping from her fingertips as she flicked it forwards into the eyes of the villains surrounding Shoji.

Koda whined miserably. The USJ was a terrible place for Koda. There were no animals, not even little ones, and no hope of any of them getting through the walls.

Aoyama flicked his hair over his shoulder, the movement falling flat as his drenched hair thwapped him in the face, and with a cheerful quip he flung himself into the fight. Koda winced and, reluctantly, followed.

Ruins Zone – destroyed Urban area

"Midoriya?" Someone hissed. "Midoriya, are you okay?"

Izuku whimpered, rolling away from the noise and covering his head with his hands. The last thing he remembered was wrapping himself around Yaoaruzu as they'd tumbled through the air. He'd been hoping to shield her with his body and from the way that he was feeling he'd definitely succeeded. The coat had padded some of it and the metal weave in clothes had saved him from some of the rest but either way his whole body ached like he had fallen out of the stupid tree and wacked every branch on the way down.

"Midoriya." The voice hissed again.

"'M fine." Izuku hissed, his tongue felt clumsy and thick in his mouth and there was a distinct chalky taste in his mouth that meant that he had bitten it at some point.

He squinted his eyes open and just made out the pale half moon of Yaoaruzu's face before rolling onto the side and spitting out a glob of blood. It was dark enough in here that she probably wouldn't notice that his blood was a fraction darker than standard. No-one had ever noticed before. But also no one had ever been so close to him while he was bleeding before.

"Are you okay?" Yaoaruzu asked, peering down anxiously from beneath her fringe.

"Yeah," Izuku sat up and shook himself furiously to loosen up the aches that were starting to stiffen his joints. "How are you?"

"I'm not hurt, but I don't know where the rest of the class are, and I have to assume that the villains are still out there." Yaoaruzu said. She was glancing nervously around the cave that they were in. The dim light that let the see was coming from a torch that she must have made and was holding in one hand.

"Right." Izuku stood up as far as he could in the cave system. It wasn't far, he had to hunch his shoulders and knees to avoid bashing his head into the ceiling and he could only imagine how much worse it must be for Yaoaruzu who was significantly taller. "We must be in the cave-in zone."

Izuku frowned and glanced around. He'd been in caves before. He tilted his head back and tried to remember the lay out of the USJ. He'd gotten a pretty good look around before the villains had shown up and, from what he remembered, it had backed up onto one of the walls of the building. He licked his finger and then held it up, feeling for the slight movement of air through the tunnels.

"Right." Izuku said, first thing that they needed to do was get help. "Come on, this way."

Yaoaruzu bit her lip and glanced around but followed without complaint.

Izuku led her deeper into the cave system. As they travelled through the complicated cave and tunnel system the tunnels started to get narrower and more cramped. Eventually they could no longer walk and were reduced to crawling. Izuku could see why the villains hadn't bothered putting anyone in there with them. It was so cramped they'd all be at a disadvantage. Better to just dump some of the kids in there where they couldn't be found.

"Aha!" Izuku hissed triumphantly, slithering through a jagged hole and into a slight cavern.

"It's a dead end." Yaoaruzu hissed, there wasn't enough room in the cavern for two, so she'd only been able to squeeze the front half of her body out of the tunnel. "You took us the wrong way."

"I didn't." Izuku said, reaching forwards and smoothing a hand over the dusty wall. It was less rugged than the rest of the caves and, as his hand moved across it, the dust was brushed aside to reveal steel. Izuku knocked against it and relished in the hollow clang it made. "This is the edge of the USJ. If we can get through the wall, we can call for help."

"Brilliant." Yaoaruzu whispered. "How are we going to get through? I could make something, but any kind of explosive would be too risky in this unstable environment." She shot a glance up at the heavy rock ceiling.

"No, No, no," Izuku said. "It's fine, look."

He pinched the torch from her, pulled a piece of paper and a pen from one of his pockets and scribbled a quick schematic. In one corner he jotted down some chemical compositions so she wouldn't have to look them up in her book. "Can you make this?"

Yaoaruzu examined it and then raised an eyebrow. "Easily. What are you going to do?"

Izuku grinned and held up one of his Chem-Sticks. It was lime green and glowed faintly in the dark. "I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve."

"Okay." Yaoaruzu wriggled backward to give him more room and started focusing.

Izuku cracked the stuck it firmly against the wall. This was the one that had been the hardest to make. Getting the balance of chemicals one hundred percent right had been awkward, especially ones that would be benign enough to stay in the plastic strip and volatile enough that combining them would create a highly potent acid.

The time it took to bubble through the wall was nerve racking, but finally it managed to dissolve a small hole in the wall, just large enough for a person to crawl through.

"Are you done?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Right." He traded a bottle of orange juice and a packet of gummy worms for the device and Yoaoruzu handed it over. There was a faint crinkling from behind him as she opened the packet.

He flipped the collar of his coat up over his neck and tugged his goggled down. Then he wriggled through the hole. The sunlight outside was blinding after the dark of the caves, even through tinted goggles and he squinted against it as he managed to flip onto his back.

The gun in his hands was heavy as he aimed it upwards and fired.

The flare whistled its way into the sky like a torpedo, hanging in the air as it exploded into a crimson ball and started to sink. Izuku loaded another round and fired again and then once more.

He had flung his mind open as soon as the villains had invaded the school, the same word repeating over and over again.

 _Ksi'an_

The ground beneath him crumbled into blackness and he was once again in free-fall, flare gun still clutched tightly in his hand and mind still reaching.

 _Ksi'an. Mum._


	18. Chapter 18

Aizawa was starting to get slow.

For all that he'd promised Midoriya that he could handle it the truth was that his M.O. was more suited to one on one fights. His eyes were starting to itch like fire behind his goggles and though there was a pile of unconscious villains around the plaza there were also a large number still circling and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Even worse, the villain who had led the assault was still waiting on the side lines. Shadowing him there was a looming wall of black skin and glistening muscles. It was making him edgy. Something about that thing was just… _wrong._

He lashed out with his capture tape, grabbing two villains and then jumping backwards and allowing their forwards momentum to toss them headfirst into each other. There was a shuddering crack as their skulls collided and Aizawa slid backwards, whipping his capture tape back and allowing them to collapse to the floor.

He turned to see his next opponent and a movement from the side caught in the edge of his goggles. The chief villain, the one with grey hair and an outfit made up of dozens of hands, was finally moving.

Aizawa struck out with his capture tape but the villain grabbed it with his hand, tugging it forwards. Aizawa followed the movement, ducking down and lashing out with a fist, hitting the villain hard in the stomach and feeling a surge of satisfaction as the villain's choke sounded in his ear.

The satisfaction faded when the villain's cough mutated into wheezing laugh. A hand closed around his elbow followed by a stabbing pain. The villain was monologuing and Aizawa took advantage of the distraction to scramble backwards, taking the opportunity to take out two more of the villains on the way out.

He shot a glance up towards the door to see Thirteen on their own facing up against the portal villain. At least the kids had gotten out.

"Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee." The villain chuckled, each laugh sounding more and more maniacal. "You really are impressive, Erazerhead. There's just one thing that you should know, I'm not the real boss here."

His voice took on a more commanding tone as he barked one word; "Nomu!"

The creature that they had brought with them – an unholy abomination with thick muscles, exposed brain and unnatural teeth-lined beak – moved for the first time. It screeched loudly, sending a shudder down Aizawa's spine and then shot forwards far faster than he could see.

Aizawa stumbled backwards, tape in his hands as a giant hand came spinning towards his face. Aizawa ducked backwards but already knew that he wouldn't be fast enough.

He closed his eyes.

And a sharp breeze whistled past his face like a knife as the creature missed.

"What!" The villain screeched.

Aizawa cracked his eye open. Even the creature's deadened face looked like it was baffled at how it had missed.

"Stupid Nomu! What are you doing!?" Villain continued with his tantrum, but no one was listening.

The monster swung again and there was an uncomfortably tight feeling, banding around Aizawa's chest as he was tugged backwards, just out of range.

"What is going on!" The villain stamped his foot on the floor and whined miserably. "This isn't fair! How are you doing that? This is cheating, stop it right now! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Nomu make him stop!"

Aizawa skittered backwards as the Nomu moved towards him, lashing out with a fist that went awry again. To the far side of the plaza there was movement that didn't come from a villain. Iida was leading Tsuyu and Ururaka in skirting around the edge of the plaza, broad shoulders hunched in an attempt to keep them from being spotted.

Aizawa swore under his breath as another swing impossibly missed. What where they doing here? Thirteen was supposed to have gotten the children out.

"Hey!"

Aizawa lunged forwards at the shout, desperate to get between the villain and the kids, but the Nomu pushed him back with a flurry of blows that almost, but not quite, hit. The villain wasn't even looking at them. He was staring over at the centre of the plaza, where a figure was stood, arm outstretched, and boot propped up on the unconscious form of one of the villains Aizawa had downed afterwards.

"Who are you!" The villain demanded, scratching furiously at his neck. "You aren't supposed to be here. No one said you would be here. You aren't even a hero."

The Nomu struck again and Aizawa lurched to the side as the band wrapped around his arm and pulling him to the side. Seeing as how he apparently didn't need to pay much attention to this fight, Aizawa took a chance and turned entirely to looking at the mysterious guest.

It was definitely a woman. Though that was one of the only things he could tell about her. She was wearing a full faced venetian mask, the earie white porcelain covered in a spiderweb of cracks and star-like dabs of gold and blue.

She dropped her hand to her hips, somehow giving off the impression of smiling indulgently at the villain, even with her face covered. The movement jostled the midnight blue pirate coat draped artfully across her shoulders and revealed the thick leather belt tossed around her waist. The ensemble was completed with a pirate het of the exact same midnight blue of the coat, a crimson feather stuck jauntily through the brim.

"No!" The villain screamed, stomping his foot again and again and again. "No! No! No! Don't look at me like that! Go away."

The woman cocked her head, sending a cascade of sable curls over her shoulder, her entire body giving the expression of indulgent exasperation. "I have a brother much younger than you." She said with a voice like bells. "He had not thrown a tantrum like that since early infancy."

The villain let out a wordless shriek and thrust his hand in her direction. "Nomu, kill her!"

The Nomu flashed forwards. Seeing his chance, Aizawa lashed out with his capture tape.

Something collided with his chest with the force of a tow-truck. His back collided with the ground and he felt several ribs crack as he was sent tumbling over and over across the ground. The skin on his face tore as it scraped across the gravel Aizawa let out a pained gasp as warm blood began to seep across his eye.

"Senseiii!"

"Aizawa-Sensei!"

"No!"

He tried to get up, but his ribs screamed in protest and the raw wound on his elbow stung as he tried to put weight on it. His elbow buckled and he collapsed back onto the ground, swallowing a pained gasp before it could escape his lips.

"Ha!" The villain burst into uncontrollable laughter. "This is brilliant. Nomu, new plan."

For a moment the villain's gaze met Aizawa's. They were dry and wild and insane. His mouth split into a smile that glistened like an open wound.

"Nomu." The villain said, enunciating the word. "Kill the kids."

"No!" Aizawa snapped, scrambling to get up and failing again. The Nomu sprinted forwards, a blur of black and white. In front of him three of his kids attempted to scramble back from the monster rushing towards them like a freight train. Iida had grabbed hold of Tsuyu and Ururaka by the shoulders of their costumes and was trying to grab them back, but the water was interfering with his engines and he couldn't get away.

A crack whistled through the air with in a flash of red and then the Nomu was frozen, hands clawing out towards the children as it struggled in place against a thick band of red around its neck. It hissed and spat as the children took the opportunity to scramble backwards.

Aizawa blinked in surprise. A crackling red energy weapon was stretched all the way from the fountain to the water's edge where it wrapped around the Nomu. The woman was holding the handle of the whip in one had as it let out a loud humming noise, obviously the sound of an engine powering some kind of gravity device. The woman was slim and short and holding the whip with one hand. She would have a strength quirk. But considering that the whip had been nowhere to be seen when he and the Nomu were being pulled around she more likely had some form of telekinesis.

Head villain hissed angrily, grabbing hold of the rope with all five fingers and tugging at it fruitlessly. He seemed to be expecting something to happen and his face only grew darker when nothing did.

"You know," He said conversationally. "You are really starting to piss me off."

The woman tossed her hair again and twitched the whip, sending a crackle of energy across his fingertips. "I could say the same. I will not be the only one who received the message. You should leave now while you are still able."

The villain faltered. He cocked his head to the side and tapped a finger against his dry lips. Aiawa was relieved to see that the children were taking the opportunity to edge around the side of the plaza towards him. The Nomu snapping and snarling attempted to follow after them, but a few miniscule twitches of the whip ensured that the Nomu could get no closer than it already was.

"What message." The villain finally barked. "There was no message!"

"I apologise, Tomura Shiguraki." The portal villain appeared out of nowhere with a shiver of distorted air. "The error is mine. One of the students managed to breach the walls and signal for help."

The villain, Shiguraki, groaned and started scratching compulsively at his neck again. He was mumbling something faintly to himself but Aizawa couldn't make out what it was. Even with the throbbing pain of his ribs and the cloudy feeling in his head, Aizawa couldn't help but give in to a small smile of relief. His colleagues would be here soon. Nemuri and Hisashi would nag and worry but the ids would all be safe.

"Who was it?" Shiguraki eventually snapped loud enough for Aizawa to hear. "Which student did it."

The portal villain tilted his head? To the side and then a portal opened above them. Something green tumbled out of the sky, landing hard on the ground and rolling to a limp halt at the feet of Shiguraki.

"Oh no." Iida moaned, engines spluttering faintly as they tried to ignite in the damp.

"Midoriya!" Uraraka whispered.

Aizawa froze, eyes pinned on Midoriya's still form. With a snap the whip disengaged from the Nomu and when speeding towards the villain looming over his student. Shiguraki dodged backwards with a grin, and, before the masked vigilante could flick the whip out again, he placed his foot firmly on Midoriya's neck.

"Well," Shiguraki said gleefully as he pressed down, ignoring the way that Midoriya spluttered beneath him. "Looks like we're back on track. All Might will be here soon." The foot pressed down harder. "And it looks like we've got bait!"

A loud rumbling explosion echoes through the plaza and Aizawa manages to raise his head enough to catch sight of the new arrival. He only just manages to withhold the groan that threatens to escape. Had none of these kids run like he'd told them too?

"That," Bakugou snapped, costume dishevelled, hair grime-covered but eyes just as bright and furious as ever as he cracked his knuckles together. "Is an exceptionally bad idea."

Bakugou jerked his head slightly in Aizawa's direction and from behind him a disembodied pair of shoes and gloves started tip-toing towards the little group of students that were hovering near him. That taken care of, Bakugou let his grin grow wide across his face as he narrowed dangerous eyes on the blood that was drying across Midoriya's face.

"Let him go." Bagukou snarled. "Right. Now."

"I quite agree."

Aizawa let his head drop back down to the ground at the new voice. His limbs went rubbery with relief and he barely noticed the shouts of alarm from his students as he collapsed backwards.

"Now," All Might continued, smoke billowing off his body as he leapt lightly into the plaza, one hand pulling the tie free from his neck. "Listen to young Bakugou and let Midoriya go."

The smile on All Might's face was more of a grimace this time. A snarl of anger that only barely managed to disguise itself as something pleasant and reassuring.

In response, Shiguraki grinned wider. Midoriya spluttered and scrabbled at the boot on his neck as Shiguraki dug his toes down.

"All Might!" Shiguraki beamed, attention instantly dragged away from everyone in that plaza as his entire attention focussed itself on All Might. "You're here. Finally."

All Might tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement. "Yes. I am here."

Aizawa could feel the tension drain from the kids as All Might's reassuring aura washed over them.

"Finally." Shiguraki whispered again. "Nomu. Kill him."


	19. Chapter 19

**Urgh I hate this chapter. Seriously it was so hard to write. Why did I even decided to write this as a chaptered piece instead of just jumping to key scenes like I did with Manufacture :/ ? Anyway, here is your devil chapter. I hope you enjoy. As ever, feel free to check out my AO3 profile or my Tumblr (I'm Update Bug on both) where I have a picture of Inko in her vigilante disguise.**

Bakugou snarled wordlessly as the Nomu sped past him, his eyes focussed on the foot pressed against Deku's throat. His palms prickled and itched with the need to rip that smug dickbag's face off but it was too risky with him so close to Deku.

His eyes flickered around the plaza. Most of the villains were down except for the dead fucker and that mist-faced dude. Their teacher was collapsed on the floor a short distance away and Round Face, Froggie and Glasses were crowded round him. Katsuki's eyes narrowed and then relaxed as he caught sight of Invisi-Girl's gloves hovering near them. Good. She'd understood what he meant then.

Standing in between them and the Villian-Fucker was someone Katsuki had never seen before. She was wearing one of those creepy old-timey mask things and had dark blue curls that tumbled to her waist and looked incredibly inappropriate for fighting. A whip made of energy crackled in her loose grip and even through the mask you got the impression of someone waiting for their moment.

It came not a second later.

A loud thud of heavy impact came from behind them and the Nomu shrieked. Katsuki threw himself flat as the unnatural body went soaring overhead and only just caught sight of the Hand-Villain's gave flickering away from Pirate-Mask.

Pirate mask took her chance, flicking out with the whip.

Hand-Villain cackled as he dodged to the side.

"Not happening." He crowed. "I've already seen your moves. You're getting sloppy, hero."

There was a sense of bitter satisfaction from behind the mask and Katsuki abruptly realised the same thing that Pirate-Mask had – When Hand-Villian had dodged he'd shifted his weight to his back foot, away from Deku.

Pirate Mask flung out her hand in a move that was…very familiar… and then Deku was yanked forwards, sliding across the floor towards them. The villain yelped as he was thrown off balance, tumbling backwards and slamming a hand down to catch himself.

The Nomu screeched and Katsuki flung himself forwards, wrapping his arms around Deku's body and tumbling them both out of the way.

"Take Aizawa and escape." All Might ordered, moving to stand between the group and the villains.

"I can walk." Aizawa grumbled, but he didn't make much of an attempt to push the students away and he was definitely favouring his left side.

"The other teachers will be here soon." All Might continued. "Your classmates will be fine. Let me deal with this."

"Right!" The extras cheered. Glasses stuck himself to Aizawa's side like a crutch and Round-Face hovered awkwardly next to him, trying to find a place to tap that wasn't sore. Considering the amount of gravel burns that Katsuki could see, and the arm wrapped carefully around his ribs that would be difficult. The awkward group started shuffling towards the exit.

Katsuki frowned. Glancing between the group. Then the villains. Then back to the group.

Ah.

That might be a bit of a problem.

Katsuki's lunge might have rolled Deku out of the way of the Nomu but it had put them square on the other side of the plaza.

The villains and the Nomu were between them and the exit.

Katsuki swore quietly, glancing between them and Deku. The other boy wasn't quite unconscious but there was an ugly gash on his head and deep bruises blooming on his neck. Katsuki snarled silently and glared at Handy. He couldn't exactly leave Deku on his own. But he really wanted to smash that guy's face in.

Reluctantly he pulled Deku back into the shadows edging the plaza. With any luck they'd just assume that he and Deku had booked it when they'd got the chance. If they got really lucky though, Handy would turn around and Katsuki would get to shove that Hand Mask through the other guy's skull.

Xxx

Izuku was drifting.

There was pain in his neck and chest and shoulders and head. It seemed that all his mind could do was drift between the points of pain and gasp for air that stung on the way down. His hearts were beating too fast. Every bruise throbbed to the same rapid beat and burned in time. It wasn't regeneration. His body wasn't damaged enough for that. But it was the potential of one. He had felt it as the foot had pressed down on his neck. If it had held down for just a bit longer. Kept him from breathing for just a few seconds more.

Izuku shuddered at the thought, keening softly.

His eyes were open.

He hadn't noticed that before.

He couldn't focus.

There were colours and sounds and feelings and thoughts and none of them made any sense.

Something warm and yellow hovered in front of his face.

He thought about grabbing for it, but his arms just felt so heavy that it seemed pointless to do so.

Something grated against his ears and Izuku whined, rolling away from it and bumping up against something soft and warm. He cuddled into it, ducking his head down wincing as the noise continued. It was like an endless, undulating shriek.

He whined again and tried to wriggle even closer to the warmth. It smelled faintly bitter and smoky with an edge of anger and fierce protective fury. It was familiar. He wrapped his mind around it until it wore the jagged edges of the scream down to a faint murmur in the back of his mind.

"Deku," Someone hissed. "Deku, Deku are you okay? What is wrong with you?"

Izuku whimpered and blinked until the blocks of colour resolved into actual shapes. His forehead was pressed against Kacchan's arm and his friend was peering down at him with concerned eyes.

"What's screaming?" He muttered.

"What?" Kacchan squinted at him with that look that meant he was questioning Izuku's sanity. "No one's screaming? How hard did you hit your head?"

Izuku squinted. "Really?" He asked. His head felt like someone was running a razor up and down on it. "You sure?"

"Yes I'm…fuck." Kacchan broke off.

Izuku frowned. He had never heard Kacchan sound so soft. Or so scared.

He rolled his head to the side. The villains were still here. All Might was clutching the Nomu around the waist and had slammed its head down into the concrete. Instead of hitting the ground, the Nomu had sunk into a portal. It emerged beneath All Might and was itself clutching at his waist. There was blood seeping into his shirt where the creature's sharp fingers dug into his side and it dragged All Might down into the portal with him.

The arm beneath Izuku's head tensed.

"No you fucking don't!" Kacchan hissed, tensing further and then uncoiling like a spring.

"Don't." Izuku's hand snapped out faster than he could think, wrapping around Kacchan's wrist and holding him still. If Izuku had been in perfect health this would never have worked, Kacchan would have just shaken him off and then barrelled off to do what he wanted.

"What the fuck, dude?" Kacchan hissed, tugging gently. "Let go."

Izuku shook his head mutely. There were tears burning in his eyes. He finally knew where the screaming was coming from. It was inside his head. It was someone's thoughts.

Wordlessly Izuku stuck his hand in his pocket and yanked out his screwdriver, flicking the volume up to full and pressing the button.

"What the fuck!" Shigaraki yelped, slamming two of his hands over his ears.

Nomu screeched, out loud this time, and its grip loosened.

There was a crack and then a rope of energy wrapped itself around All Might's waist and tugged him free.

The portal villain wavered, smoke and portals flickering as Kacchan saw his opportunity and sprinted forwards, grabbing Misty by the collar and slamming him into the ground.

"Don't move." Kacchan said, fierce grin splitting his face as he held his hand up and let an explosion crackle into life in implicit threat. "I really, really want to do this."

Izuku felt what was going to happen the moment before it did.

"Look out!" He screamed, scrambling to his feet and ignoring the way it made his head ache. Kacchan wasn't going to be able to move in time the Nomu was coming, he was going to –

Something collided with Izuku tumbling him back to the ground.

The dust cleared.

Nomu and All Might were frozen in a silent tableau where Kacchan had been standing. The Nomu's fist was resting against All Might's forearm as though it had been gently placed there instead of impacting there with a dust raising boom.

Izuku spluttered and spat blonde hair out of his mouth as he attempted to sit up and shuffle Kacchan off his ribs which had definitely taken way too much abuse for one day.

Shigaraki laughed. "Anything to feel like you are a true hero, huh, All Might? Like you can actually make a difference and _Save_ people." He said it with a snarl, lip curling with a bitter twist and spreading his arms in mockery as the Mist villain appeared at his flank. "I have news for you, you can't, you are nothing but a fraud lulling the people into a sense of false security." Shigaraki leaned forwards with a triumphant cackle. "Nomu, finish this."

"Finish what?" All Might said, standing tall as the Nomu sprinted towards him. All Might wound back, muscles rippling with undeniable strength.

"I…" He back handed the Nomu across the face, striking out at his chest with his other hand at the same time and following the Nomu backwards as it staggered beneath the assault.

"…Am nowhere near…" He struck out again, lightning fast punches drumming against the Nomu's skin with an audible crack.

The Nomu screamed and lashed out but All Might dodged, ducking beneath it and strikinf out with his fist.

"Done!" He screamed.

The Nomu went flying into the air, crashing through the clear ceiling and disappearing into the sky.

"Woah!"

"Holy shi—"

Izuku and Kacchan stared in awe as All Might stood strong in a cloud of smoke. And the villain started to scream.

Xxx

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Shigaraki wailed, scratching compulsively at his neck as he paced in a small circle and threw All Might the occasional glare.

"This isn't how it's going to go, they said you were weaker, you're supposed to be weaker." The Villain snapped. "Why aren't you weaker. You lied to me!" He hissed venomously.

Slightly alarmed Toshinori noted that 'They' down to worry about later. At the moment though it was all he could do to stay on his feet. He could only be grateful that he had yet to choose a successor. This would have been a terrible time to have been weakened.

Abruptly the villain stood to his whole height. It was as though someone had flicked a switch on a video game and changed his entire personality. He had gone from brattish temper tantrum to focussed villain in less than a second.

"I can still do this." He breathed to himself, shooting All Might a glare with re-rimmed eyes. "Look at you, you're nothing, I have Kurogiri. It's two against one."

Toshinori braced himself, smile freezing into a grimace on his face.

Shigaraki leaned forwards, arms coming out to clutch at thin air as he prepared to dive forwards.

Then a polite cough broke the stand-off.

Toshinori flinched as the Masked Vigilante stepped up to his side. He had completely forgotten that she was there. Her whip had disappeared at some point, but she had her hat cocked into a jaunty angle that gave an impression of absolute confidence.

Shigaraki's lip curled up at the threat, Kurogiri looming threateningly at his back.

He took a step forwards and a bullet slammed into the ground in front of him.

"Wha?" Shigaraki gaped, turning towards the doors as the heroes and teachers of UA spilled through them. They were all there, Present Mic, Midnight, Snipe and Nezu leading the group into the USJ and against the villains.

Toshinori let out an inaudible sigh of relief, careful not to relax even an inch lest he loose control of his quirk and de-transform. Alarm sparked next to him, coming from the Masked Vigilante – how odd, an empathy quirk? – and he yanked his head back round to see Shigaraki and his companion disappearing into another portal.

"Wait –" Toshinori commanded, reaching forwards with one hand. But it was too late. Shigaraki was gone.

Toshinori grit his teeth. There was blood bubbling inside his throat, and he fought down the urge to cough. The kids were safe, the other teachers would take care of them. The villains would be defeated. Aizawa would be taken to Recovery Girl. He could almost relax. There was just one more thing to do.

"I thank you for your assistance." Toshinori began, pivoting on his heel in a plastic movement that allowed him to stay as still as possible while still turning to meet the concerned gaze of the Masked Vigilante. "But Vigilantism is illegal. It would be best for you to leave before my co-workers arrive, if you can."

The Vigilante nodded and held out her hand in the direction of the landslide zone. For a moment Toshinori got the impression that she was pulling at something and then she was whipped forwards through the air, only just managing to grab hold of her hat before it went tumbling back off her head.

Finally, finally Toshinori relaxed, sinking onto his knees and collapsing inwards until his forearms rested on the floor. A burst of familiar smoke surrounded him as he felt himself deflating and shrivelling back into his pathetic form.

That had been too close.

He couldn't keep running his time down like this. If the other teachers had been just a second slower…

"What the entire fuck?"

"Um, Mr Yagi?"

Toshinori felt his eyes widen, his head spinning round to meet the wide eyed gazes or young Midoriya and Bakugou, both boys lurking around the edges of the plaza and staring at him in disbelief.

"Gaghk." Toshinori yelped, giving up the battle and finally spewing blood down himself.

"Ah!" Young Midoriya yelped, darting towards him. "Mr Yagi! You shouldn't overdo it! Are you okay?"

Xxx

The apartment was quite when Izuku got home.

It had been a long, long day. His ribs were bruised but not broken but the still made walking in anything other than a pained shuffle difficult. There was a bandage wrapped around his head and so much soothing cream slathered around his neck that he felt like a Christmas turkey.

"Mum?" Izuku called, glancing around the empty entranceway nervously.

He hung his keys on a hook next to the door and then attempted to balance the whip that he had scooped up on the hook next to them. There were a pair of knee-high boots dumped in the hall and Izuku slipped his shoes off next to them, padding barefoot into the living room.

Inko was lying face down on the sofa, her head hidden beneath her arms and one socked foot dangling off into the air. A long blue wig had been hooked over a nearby lamp, and a Venetian mask had been carelessly discarded on the nearby table.

"Mum?" Izuku said again, edging closer.

"Ahhhhhh." Inko groaned, reaching out quick as a flash and tumbling him down onto the sofa next to her, looping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.

"Woah!" Izuku yelped and flailed as he attempted to balance with half of his body on the sofa and half hovering in mid-air. "Mum, c'mon." He said. "We're not gonna fit."

"That was so scary!" Inko wailed, clutching him tighter but carefully avoiding the black bruising around his throat. "I did not like that at all!"

Izuku laughed slightly, placing a comforting hand on his sister's back and wriggling further into the cushions. "It's okay, mum. Everyone's fine. Thank you for coming when I called."

"Don't be silly, dear." Inko scolded, patting his chest and peering up at him with the green eyes that they had both inherited from their mum. "I'll always come when you call."

Izuku quirked his lips into a wobbly smile. "I know."

Inko sighed and reached out, brushing her mind against his in a comforting embrace. Izuku relaxed back into it, letting her calmness and love soothe the rough edges of the Nomu's screaming. There was an edge of mischief in her caress and Izuku was unsurprised when she propped her chin up onto his chest, eyes sparkling up at him and grin on her face.

"Are you absolutely sure about this hero thing?"

Izuku laughed, " _Yes,_ Mum!"


	20. Chapter 20

Conversations and Consequences

 **Happy Valentine's day! My gift to you is the most important (and longest) chapter so far. Seriously it actually merits an actual name! As ever feel free to check me out on Tumblr.**

School was closed the next day. Obviously. UA might have a reputation for excellence but not even they would keep classes running as usual in the wake of a villain attack. Even so, Izuku didn't get a chance to sleep in. His alarm went off at seven and he slid out of bed, sending a wave of reassurance at Inko as she attempted to grab hold of his sleeve.

"It's fine, mum." Izuku muttered. His voice croaked worse than a heavy smoker's and scratched against the inside of his throat as each word whispered its way out. "I'm just going to meet the Kacchan. I'll be fine."

The apartment block was silent as he walked down the stairs to find Kacchan waiting at the bottom.

"Hi." He said.

Kacchan jerked his head to the side in acknowledgement, gimlet eyes running over the bruises on Izuku's neck as he fell into place beside him and they made their way towards the beach.

" _Ah! My boys!" All Might had said, "Please do not worry."_

 _As if they could do anything else with the Number One hero on his knees in front of them._

 _Kacchan shot him a withering look but even he seemed too surprised to be able to muster up his usual anger._

" _I – All Might?" Izuku questioned, staring at disbelief at the man in front of him. His biggest hero. The man who mum had railroaded into coming to dinner every Tuesday night. It made sense. Sort of. There were some physical similarities and they were of the same height and hair colour. All Might's hair went up, Yagi's went down. Plus there was the fact that no one ever seemed to see All Might as a civilian. That would make sense if his quirk was some sort of transformative mutations type and –_

 _A gentle slap to the back of his head jerked Izuku out of his musings as Kacchan hissed; "You're mumbling again." In his ear._

 _Izuku blushed and spluttered an apology as All Might stared solemnly at them. His skeletal features and the blood still dripping down his chin only made the scene feel more serious._

" _Yes." All Might – Yagi said, clutching at the baggy volumes of his shirt with on hand. "This is the truth of my quirk. This is my true form."_

" _How in the fuck?" Kacchan began, only to be cut off by yelling._

" _Midoriya! Bakugou! Are you guys okay?"_

" _Ah shit." Kacchan cursed. "It's Shitty Hair."_

" _Shitty h—?" Izuku broke off. "You mean Kirishima?"_

 _Kirishima was waving at them from the outskirts of the rain zone. It looked like Midnight and some of the other students were with him but it was hard to tell from this distance and with all the smoke._

" _Shoot." All Might staggered to his feet. He wheezed and coughed up more blood as the move jarred his side but managed to get into a hunched approximation of a standing position. "I must go."_

 _He reached out and grabbed Izuku's hand in his. Even like this the lines of strength in his hand were readily apparent as he squeezed Izuku's small hand in his much bigger one._

" _Please, do not speak of this to anyone." All Might pleaded, his eyes flickering between Izuku and Katsuki. "I will meet you at the usual place tomorrow and tell you all that I can."_

" _Are you gonna be alright?" Kacchan asked, his eyebrows were raised sceptically, and he was glancing between All Might and the door. "Shouldn't you just come see a doctor? You look like you're gonna crash."_

 _All Might shook his head sharply. "The other teachers know about my condition, yes, but the students cannot. I still have some years left in me as the symbol of peace before I need to worry them with this."_

"Bakugou. Midoriya."

Izuku flinched, so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that they'd arrived at the beach. All Might, Yagi, was standing in front of them, gaunt body framed by the orange glow of the rising sun. Yagi was always so hunched in on himself that it was hard to notice how intimidating a figure he actually was but now he was stood to his full height.

He led them to a more secluded corner of the beach and sat down, facing them expectantly. Kacchan flopped down on the nearest dune and, a little more carefully, Izuku lowered himself to sit next to his friend.

All Might winced, staring at the two of them with worried eyes. His mouth opened and for a moment it looked as though he was going to speak but the moment past and he remained silent.

"Well." Kacchan snapped, crossing his arms and scowling. "You said you'd talk."

"Kacchan." Izuku hissed. Kacchan tended to use anger to…well, hide any emotion really but, in this case, it was covering up his uncertainty. Kacchan had always wanted to be the best. To be unbreakable. If something like this could happen to the strongest hero in Japan, well, what did that say about him.

All Might raised his hand placatingly. "It is all right, Young Midoriya, I promised you answers. I will provide them. It is just hard to know where to begin."

"At the beginning?" Kacchan shot out acerbically.

If it wasn't for the severity of the situation, and if it wasn't Kacchan, Izuku would have rolled his eyes. Trust a human to think linearly about this.

All Might – Yagi – chuckled softly and leant back. The strands of his yellow hair stirred in the breeze. In some ways, for all that this form was slightly intimidating, Yagi was, somehow, more gentle like this. More human. Less…show.

"The beginning would be a good place to start." Yagi said. "Tell me, when did your quirks develop?"

"When we were four!" Kacchan puffed out his chest in pride. "Mine was practically the first to manifest." He jerked his thumb at Izuku. "This looser didn't get his for ages though. He was like last in the whole class."

This time Izuku did roll his eyes. It made the scabbed gash in his forehead ache. "Thanks, Kacchan."

All Might's gaze had moved past them. Onto the ocean and onto the sun. Izuku recognised that look. He saw it on his sister often enough. It was the look of someone seeing something very, very, far away.

"I never got my quirk."

"Wha?" Kacchan started to splutter but Izuku elbowed him in the ribs before he could interrupt. He wanted to hear this.

"I do not believe you will be able to understand how difficult it was to grow up without a quirk. Even back then, quirks were the norm. People without them were not so blatantly discriminated against as they are now, but there was still an unspoken prejudice. I had always wanted to be a hero. To learn that I could not was a blow I never truly recovered from. Then I met someone who told me I could be."

All Might's gaze had turned soft, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips. That kind of grief was familiar too. Longing and loving and bitter.

"She gave me her quirk."

"What!" This time Izuku wasn't quick enough to silence Kacchan's startled exclamation. "That's not possible!" Katsuki spat. "You can't just give someone your quirk? How would that even work?"

Izuku hummed slightly, unconsciously propping his chin on his hand as he thought about it. "Well, there are quirks that interfere, copy or mimic other peoples. Aizawa-Sensei is one example of this." All Might and Katsuki had both turned when he started mumbling but Izuku was too far gone to notice. "Your quirk is part of your DNA, theoretically if you were able to find some way to mimic or assimilate the 'Quirk Factor' inherent in a person's DNA you might be able to find a way to replicate…"

"Exactly right, Young Midoriya." All Might cut in. "Though I hadn't expected you to figure that much out. Yes, my teacher passed some of her DNA onto me in order to pass her quirk; One for All, on to me."

Yagi clenched his fist in a move incredibly reminiscent of his larger self. "And I was not the first."

"How do you mean?" Izuku asked. He itched for his notebook but thought that Yagi might not appreciate him blatantly making notes during this. It was interesting though.

"I am the eighth holder of this quirk and, by inheriting it, I inherited the war that my predecessors fought in."

"War?" Kacchan chimed in.

All Might nodded grimly. "Indeed. A long time ago, when quirks were just beginning to manifest a man known as All for One emerged. His quirk allowed him to steal the quirks of others."

Katsuki inhaled sharply at the thought and Izuku squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"He amassed a large following but one day, he made a mistake. He decided to force a quirk onto his quirkless younger brother. Unbeknownst to them both, the brother had what we would now know as an invisible quirk, he had the power to pass quirks on. When All for One gave him the ability to stockpile power the two quirks combined, creating One for All. Unable to defeat his brother, One for All passed on his quirk to his successor and it passed down the line until my own teacher entrusted me with it."

Izuku's fingers ached for his notebook again. There was something about that quirk that was just niggling away at the back of his brain like a word on the tip of his tongue and he could not think what it was.

All Might's gaze dropped to the sand and his thoughts took on a sour tone. "One for All killed my Sensei."

Izuku winced and Katsuki flinched at the bleakness of Yagi's tone.

"I fought him several years ago," All Might pulled up his shirt, revealing a horrific scar. It didn't look like something that should ever be one someone's body. There was a crater-like impact mark across his side and then dozens of smaller scars that rippled out upwards across his ribs and down over his hip. "He did this for me. Most of my stomach is missing now, and I can only maintain my heroic form for a couple of hours each day. But I defeated him."

All Might dropped his shirt back own to cover the damage, forehead furrowing in grim satisfaction. "All for One may have been defeated however, there are many more villains out there. I am currently still regarded as a pillar of peace in our community. I plan to phase myself out slowly before choosing a successor, lest that pillar crumble. Who knows what sort of damage that could do."

All Might trailed off, seemingly content to let them sit in silence for a little while. This was lucky because Izuku had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. 'I'm sorry' seemed too trite. 'I understand' too self-centred. And 'I am one of two survivors of an intergalactic war, I know how hard returning to peace is' was 100% off the table.

Unfortunately, Kacchan was not similarly mute.

"Shit." He breathed. "That's…" He trailed off.

Okay, maybe Katsuki didn't know what to say either.

All Might smiled. Not his usual, for the crowds, smile. Not his gentle, Yagi, smile either. This smile was somehow fierce and proud and brave and comforting all at once.

"I am sorry for bringing you into this." He said. "But if I could have chosen any of my students to have discovered my secret it would have been you boys." He tilted forwards in the sand into what Izuku belatedly realised was a bow. "Please, keep my secret."

"Ahh!" Izuku wheezed, waving his hands. "That's fine, please don't bow, it's fine, it's fine, honest."

"It's a given that we're not gonna tell." Kacchan cut in, shoulder checking Izuku before he could get stuck in a loop of apologies and reassurances. Somehow he managed to topple Izuku into the sand without him hitting any of the sore patches of his body. "I'm not a nark and this idiot is way to much of a fanboy to go spilling your secrets."

"Kacchan." Izuku hissed blushing scarlet.

All Might laughed. "That is a relief."

A phone buzzed and All Might flinched suddenly as if remembering something. "Ah! What time is it?" He asked scrambling to get retrieve his phone from his back pocket and almost tumbling over in the sand. "I promised Tsukauchi that I would provide a more in-depth statement. I must go, I shall see you in school tomorrow."

Izuku waited until All Might was out of sight and then whipped a notebook out of his bag and a pen out of his pocket. It wasn't the sonic one, sadly. He must have left it on the bedside table. Mum would not be pleased.

He started to scribble down all the new information that he had learned about quirks. Nothing personal, but the biological and scientific implications of One for All were interesting. There was an obvious biological component because children could inherit their parents quirk. But if it could be passed between people then that implied it was more like a virus – albeit one under conscious control and –

"Are you gonna keep scribbling or are we gonna talk?"

Izuku froze, pen halfway through the word 'implication' and ugly, inky blotch starting to form beneath the nib where it was pressed too hard against the paper.

"Talk?" He said, swallowing was difficult with his throat, but his mouth felt so dry that it was impossibly not to. "Talk about what?"

Kacchan raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. His yellow hair somehow seemed to get even spikier as if to punctuate his point and Izuku found himself swallowing again.

"Oh." He said, voice sounding very far away. "Talk about that."

 _The area surrounding the USJ was swarming with ambulances and other medical staff. Aizawa had already been loaded into the back of one and driven away. None of the others seemed too badly hurt, thank goodness. Cuts, bruises, he thought that Koda might have a broken arm and it looked like Jiro was nursing a sprained ankle. Ashido had painful gravel burns up both arms and one of the EMT's had sat Sero down in the back of an ambulance and was shining a light in his eyes as they checked for a concussion._

 _Izuku was Class President. Really he should be at the forefront, keeping an eye on everyone, making sure that they were being seen too, reassuring everyone that they had done well. There was just one problem with that. Well, several problems with that. And all of them wearing medical uniforms._

 _Izuku hunched backwards, turning his face towards the building in an attempt to hide the blood on his face and bruises on his neck._

" _Hey!"_

 _Izuku flinched as Kacchan appeared in front of him, effortlessly finding him in the shadows. This was it, Katsuki had always been weirdly protective. He was gonna make Izuku see a doctor and then they'd find out he was an alien and he'd get dissected and Mum would move them to somewhere lame and uninhabited like mars._

" _Here." Kacchan said, dumping a bundle into Izuku's arms. Izuku blinked. It was a pile of bandages, some of those large waterproof dressings, antiseptics, numbing cream and wipes. "I'd have grabbed painkillers but you always take your own so I wasn't sure what you could have. You've still got some in your pockets or belt or something, right?"_

" _Um, yes?" Izuku said, he had human and none-human pain meds in his kit. Time Lords needed slightly different doses of certain things for them to be effective. It was the two hearts thing. Plus some of the chemicals used in human anti-inflammatories were actually poisonous to his kind. "How did you –?"_

 _Kacchan jostled him gently back into the shadows. "I stole a bunch of stuff from an ambulance while they were distracted. You can sort yourself out right? If anyone asks just say you were seen by someone else."_

" _Yes, but how did you know –?"_

" _I'll make a distraction just in case." Kacchan continued over him. "No one'll even notice that you're missing."_

" _Yes, but –?"_

 _Kacchan ignored him, turning and striding deliberately towards a disembodied pair of gloves. Without breaking a stride he grabbed Hagakure by the nape of the neck and pulled her along with him._

" _Oi!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Can we get some medicale assistance over here. This chick was unconscious for, like, fifteen minutes. Will you people do your damn jobs and give her a check over?"_

 _Izuku stared for a moment as Kacchan began haranguing the doctors into order and snapping at anyone who looked even slightly injured to get in line for a check over. Then he started scrubbing the blood off his face, wincing as the movement pulled the deep muscle bruising that was settling in over his ribs._

"How long have you known?" He asked.

Kacchan grinned sharply, reclining back into his sand dune like it were a throne. With the way that the morning sun crowned his head it might as well have been.

"You should know." He said. "You were there."

Izuku choked and dropped his pen as he spluttered. His throat convulsed in pain as it spasmed and he wheezed helplessly. Katsuki dropped his show of smugness to hover awkwardly at his side, rubbing firm circles on his back and peering anxiously at his face as it started to turn blue form lack of air.

"You alright?" He asked as the coughing subsided.

"Fine," Izuku wheezed, lolling sideways onto his shoulder and gesturing at his throat. It sucked that All Might and Aizawa had seen the bruises. If not, Mum could've just fixed it up in the TARDIS. But he had been seen. So now he was dealing with a human timeline. "You've known since we were nine?"

"Well, nine and Fifty-Three." Kacchan corrected. Now that he knew Izuku was going to be okay the smugness had made a swift return.

Izuku couldn't help it. He laughed. "How do you remember?"

Katsuki shrugged. "I didn't drink the milk."

"You didn't –" Izuku broke off with another laugh. "Why? What? How did you know? You never said."

Katsuki shrugged again. "I'm not an idiot. I took a guess on the milk and it paid off. I heard you and Auntie talking. She said it was dangerous if I knew so I never let on."

Izuku shook his head incredulously. Time Lord knowledge, beaten by a paranoid nine year old.

"So," Kacchan sat back on his heels and looked at Izuku expectantly. "What happens now, you try and erase my memories again? Just a warning, I'm not giving them up easy and there is no way I'd ever lose a fight with you like this."

"I mean, to be fair," Izuku pointed out, flipping his notebook shut and stashing it back in his bag. "I was all for you knowing in the first place. Mum was the one who got worried."

Katsuki cocked his head to the side, Izuku could see where he was biting at his bottom lip to prevent his usual vicious grin from cutting his face in two.

"What's that supposed to mean then, Deku?"

Izuku beamed back, eyes sparkling with mischief. "I won't tell, if you don't?"

Kacchan cackled.


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay, so not gonna lie, I am totally using this fanfic as an excuse to fix all the little things that bugged me about the series. Like I get why they didn't happen, but it still bugs me. Like the fact that despite being vastly outnumbered by villains, everyone pretty much got off without a scratch! Or the fact that despite it being Japan's new Olympics, parents still have to watch the sports festival on the TV.**

 **In more important news, the amazing Astromei has done fanart of Izuku and Inko's hero costumes! Please check them out on my AO3 or Tumblr because they are, frankly, incredible!**

"I thought your lot were good with time!"

"Hey, I have a head wound, anyway, I didn't see you setting an alarm."

"I was tired! I have had a lot of information to process, besides you said you were all 'synced up with the universe' or some tosh."

"That is not what I said! See if I tell you anything ever again!"

"Yeah, like you can keep your mouth shut."

Katsuki skidded into the classroom a fraction of a second before Izuku, the two of them clearing the doorway just as the morning bell began to ring.

"Deku!"

"Midoriya!"

The twin yells came from Iida and Ururaka, both of whom seemed completely unscathed from their adventure only two days earlier.

"Are you okay?" Ururaka asked, peering anxiously at the thick plaster on Izuku's forehead and the bruises ringing his throat. They were just starting to fade to a sickly yellow around the edges and looked worse than ever. "I didn't see you after USJ, the teachers said you were alright and everything, but you just disappeared."

"Oh, yeah." Izuku rubbed a hand across the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just with the medics and then I went home once they cleared me. Is everyone alright?"

He addressed the last question to the room, peering past his friends to see how everyone was. He had been right about Koda, the other boy's arm had been wrapped in a cast, the white bandages had already been covered in splashes of colourful signatures and well-wishes. It wasn't Koda's dominant hand, but Izuku made a note to find the shy boy a whiteboard or something, signing with one arm in a cast would be painful. Jiro was lounging at her desk so it was hard to see, but there was a pair of crutches hooked against her chair that implied that Izuku had been right about the sprain. Over on the other side of the room Hagakure looked even more bizarre than usual, her empty school uniform hovering beneath a cap of bandages, presumably wrapped around her skull.

Aside from them and Izuku, though, no one seemed too badly hurt. There were a few cuts and bruises here and there, Ashido had bandages wrapped around her forearms and Aoyama was nursing a broken nose and two black eyes that he was certainly handling with poor grace. There were no serious injuries though. And no one was dead or dropped out. Izuku huffed an inaudible sigh of relief and moved to his desk.

"Told you everyone would be fine." Katsuki muttered, dropping his bag onto his desk and then flopping down onto the chair.

"Yeah, we're all fine!" Kirishima grinned, "That buddy system was super effective, good plan, bro!"

"Yeah, unless your buddy was an arsehole!" Kaminari chipped in, glaring at Sero and Jiro. There were scuffs and scrapes all over him but nothing more serious. "Not cool guys."

Jiro rolled her eyes. "It worked, didn't it? You make a good stun gun."

Kaminari spluttered, uselessly, Jiro had already turned away to start a conversation with Yaoyorozu.

"Yes, yes we are all relieved that everyone is well." Iida exclaimed, pushing his glasses further up his nose and ignoring Kaminari's increasingly high-pitched spluttering. "But we should take our seats, our teacher will be here soon to begin homeroom."

"Um," Ururaku cut in, "Iida, you're the only one standing."

Iida blinked at the class, all of who were in their seats and staring up at him. "Ah!" He yelped at the realisation, scrambling to sit down.

"Do we even know if Aizawa-Sensei is going to be in today?" Hagakure asked. Her empty shirt twisted itself to the side as she seemingly turned to look at the class. "He looked pretty banged up last time I saw him."

"Maybe we'll have a cover?" Ashido suggested. "I hope it's Midnight."

"It couldn't be," Yaoyoruzu said, tucking her fringe behind one ear shyly as she spoke. "Midnight is the Homeroom teacher to one of the General Ed courses, isn't she?"

"Oooooh!" Aoyama said, "I hope it is the fabulous Captain Celebrity, he truly knows how to shine wonderfully for his fans."

"He doesn't even teach here."

Aoyama sniffed, pointing his nose in the air and crossing his nose. "It could happen." The effect was slightly ruined by the fact that breathing too deeply through his nose was still painful enough to make his eyes water.

"No, it couldn't."

Everyone turned at the blunt pronouncement to see Aizawa, heavily bandaged and sat at his desk as though nothing had happened. Izuku was pretty sure that only the front row heard their teacher mutter 'I hate that guy' under his breath in the explosion of noise that followed.

"You're back!"

"Sensei, are you okay?"

"As expected of a pro hero!"

Izuku frowned, giving their teacher a once over. He wasn't quite a healed as he was trying to make out. One of his arms had been bound in a sling and strapped to the opposing shoulder to prevent movement, and scabbing ran all the way down one side of his face where it had been smashed into the floor. It looked like it started just under the hairline and curved down around his jaw. Still. It could have been much, much worse.

"Yes, yes, I am back, and I am glad to see you are all recovered from your ordeal because a bigger threat is looming."

There was a wave of panic through the classroom and Izuku narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Aizawa's face was impassive, but Izuku could feel him snickering to himself.

"The sports festival!"

The relief in the room was immediate.

"As you all know, this is the chance for you to make your mark on the world's stage." Aizawa narrowed his eyes briefly, "Do not disappoint."

And there came the tension again. Well, from most people. Izuku didn't even need to look at Kacchan to know that the other boy would have his signature sadistic grin on his face.

Aizawa leant down and retrieved his yellow sleeping bag from beneath his desk. From within it he retrieved a large stack of papers, bound together with string so that he could carry them with his one free hand.

He dropped them on the edge of his desk with an audible thump.

"Everything that you need to know about the event is in these induction booklets. Make sure that you retrieve one at the end of homeroom and memorise it. I will not accept any signs of ignorance on the day."

Aizawa shot them a gimlet-eyed look, red flashing briefly as he activated his quirk for maximum intimidation. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The class chanted.

"Good."

Aizawa flicked the register open and started to take roll-call. Izuku drowned him out, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin, his other hand fiddling restlessly with the chain that his clock hung on. The whole world would be watching, huh?

Xxx

Katsuki didn't think that the school day had ever _dragged_ so much before.

Like he wouldn't have minded, but they didn't even have a practical hero class today. They'd just had an hour on hero ethics before lunch and then it was just normal school stuff for the rest of the day. The last lesson of the day had been physics and not even the fact that it was taught by Power Loader was enough to make it interesting. Physics was his best subject. It's not like he needed to pay attention.

Besides, it's not like he was the only one not paying attention. Lightning-bolt and Earphones were playing tic-tac-toe. Glasses kept trying to get them to stop without drawing attention to it or getting in trouble himself. Even Izuku, general goodie, goodie had spent the lesson with his nose buried in the info-pack they'd been given that morning. His forehead was scrunched up in deep and he had that annoying twist to his mouth that meant he'd found something that he thought illogical in there.

"Finally!" Katsuki crowed as the bell rang. He ignored Glasses' splutters for him to be more respectful of their teachers and kicked the back of Izuku's chair to get him to look up.

"Deku, look alive, I wanna get down to the beach and practice, we've only got two weeks and I am gonna nail this."

Izuku frowned, absently chewing on his lower lip as he said; "You go ahead without me, I was going to head over to see Aizawa-Sensei, there were a couple of things that I wanted to ask him."

"What?" Katsuki complained. "What d'you want me to do, train by myself? Lame."

"Oh, are you training, Bakugou?" Round Face chipped in, turning from where she was packing her bag to but in where she wasn't wanted. Glasses was hanging around her as usual, disapproving frown on his stupid face. "Can we come?"

"Quirk use in public is prohibited."

"Not gonna use quirks." Katsuki rolled his eyes, _this time_ , he added to himself. "Just nice, friendly beating on each other until one of us passes out or vomits."

"Lovely." Glasses wrinkled his posh boy nose. "Unfortunately my brother will be leaving work early for once, so my mother has insisted upon a family dinner."

"Oh," Round Face pouted for a moment. "Can I still come?"

Katsuki had no idea when he'd agreed to that. He gave the round, soft girl a once over. She was tiny, but not that smaller than Deku, might be good to fight someone else for a change. "Yeah, alright." He agreed, absently yanking Deku out of his chair when the other boy showed no signs of putting the booklet away or getting ready to leave for the day. "As long as you don't go crying home when I beat the crap out of you."

Round Face narrowed her eyes. It would be threatening if she looked less like a chipmunk. "Maybe you should worry about yourself." She said.

Katsuki couldn't resist a bark of laughter. "This might be worth my time after all. Come on, Numbskull." He shot over his shoulder, dragging Deku with him. The other boy yelped and scrambled for his books before Katsuki could drag him out of reach. "We'll drop you off at the staffroom before I deliver the beat down of the century."

"You wish!"

Katsuki cackled again, sliding the door open with one hand and dragging Deku out into the corridor. At least, that's what he intended to do. A group of extras were lurking outside, blocking the way out. He came to an abrupt halt, frowning dangerously at them. Behind him, Deku hadn't managed to break in time, bashing into his back and dropping his school books all over the floor.

"Kacchan!" He whined, dropping to the floor to scoop them up.

Katsuki didn't answer. His eyes had locked with the purple haired reject that was leading the bunch and he wasn't going to be the one who caved first.

"Loitering in the corridors is forbidden." Glasses said, pushing his way to the front. "May I know what you are doing here?"

Katsuki couldn't help but sigh. Of all the people h could have picked to represent the class, Glasses was not on the list. "They want to check out the competition, isn't obvious?" He folded his arms and leant sideways against the doorframe, giving the group his best unimpressed look. "We're the kids who took on a bunch of villains and won. They want to see if we live up to the hype."

"It's true." The purple haired one stretched casually. He had eyes like a racoon and didn't look like he'd gotten a good night's sleep in like, well, ever. "If this is the best that the hero course has to offer, though, I'm a bit disillusioned. What, do you think taking on a few villains makes you special? I'm sure if they were defeated by you, they couldn't be that tough."

Katsuki froze. Invisi-Girl had been so still when he'd dragged her into that alley that he'd thought she was dead. Izuku had moaned in his arms, skin corpse pale and blood smeared across his face. Even All Might had struggled, collapsed on the ground in a cloud of smoke and body withered to a husk of its former self.

All this went through his head in fraction of a moment and then he lunged forwards, snarl on his face and palms itching. "Is this a fucking joke to you?"

"Oh, it's you!" Deku chirped, popping up between them, smile on his face and books in hand.

Katsuki aborted his lunge before he could topple into the smaller boy and resigned himself to growling uselessly over his shoulder. Clearly Deku still lacked the ability to read the fucking room!

"Oh." Purple-Hair shifted awkwardly and the crowed suddenly looked a lot less certain. Deku's voice still had a hint of a croak to it, and the bruises where still plum dark on his throat. Katsuki guessed it was one thing to talk shit about the USJ and quite another to be confronted with its reality. "Yes, hello."

"Are you alright?" Deku asked, stowing his books in his bag. "I never got the chance to ask last time."

"Yeah, Yeah." Purple-Hair glanced over his shoulder nervously, but no help seemed to be forthcoming. "I'm fine."

"Good," Deku beamed and slung his bag over his shoulder, "It was nice to see you again, I hope we run into each other again soon. Good luck with the festival!"

"Yeah," Purple-Hair stuttered. "You too."

Deku grinned, grabbing Katsuki by the arm and towing him down the corridor. "C'mon, Kacchan, Iida, Ururaku, I want to catch Aizawa before he leaves for the day."

Xxx

"Finally." Aizawa groaned.

He was lying flat out on the staff-room sofa, eyes closed and sleeping bag draped carelessly over himself. His ribs had been complaining since fifth period and he was pretty sure that he was technically still concussed.

"I told you to stay home." Yamada said, passing him a packet of Aspirin.

Aizawa mumbled something unintelligible and swallowed two dry, flailing out with his only useful hand until Yamada pressed a juice pack into it. "Can we go home yet?"

"Not quite." Yamada answered. Aizawa knew that anyway. Nedzu had called a staff-meeting. It would probably be hours before he could get home. That rodent sure could talk.

A hesitant knock on the door cut through his musings and he shared a confused look with Yamada before swinging himself into a sitting position.

"Yes?" Yamada said, going to answer the door. "Oh, hello, little listener. What can I do for you?"

"Um." Aizawa groaned internally. The was definitely the problem child. "Is Aizawa Sensei here? I needed to talk to him about something."

Yamada shot a look over his shoulder and Aizawa nodded.

"Of course, Come in." Yamada said, stepping to the side and letting the problem child enter.

Midoriya edged into the staff-room, shooting nervous glances around the room and clutching his sports festival info pack in a white knuckled grip.

"Midoriya." Aizawa intoned, his voice carefully flat as he nodded to a chair directly across from his own. Midoriya sat in it, open bag falling off his shoulder as he did so and nearly spilling books across the staff-room floor as Midoriya scrambled to catch it.

"Is this about the speech?" Aizawa asked, already running through a dozen ways to subtly reassure the boy in his head.

The boy blinked at him and Aizawa was suddenly struck by how unnaturally green the boy's eyes were. "Speech?"

 _Ah. Maybe he should have given it a day._ "You were the highest point getter in the entrance exam." Aizawa explained bluntly. You will be expected to give an opening speech at the festival."

"Speech?" Those green eyes widened as he spluttered before he seemed to visibly collect himself, swallowing and smoothing invisible creases out of his trouser legs. "No, I wanted to just ask about something to do with the festival." Problem child brandished the booklet he was holing as if in proof.

Aizawa inclined his head into a nod.

"Um, right." Midoriya stuttered. "Well, I was just wondering, there's nothing in here about reserving seats?"

Aizawa frowned. "Reserving seats for what?"

"Um." Midoriya looked a little startled by that, glancing down at the booklet and then back up at him. "For family members? Are they not allowed to come?"

Aizawa frowned deeper. "It's not something that we usually offer."

"Really?" Midoriya looked even more confused now and had started picking at the corner of the paper. "I just thought, I mean, it's the equivalent of the Olympics, right? And we're the competitors? I just thought, I mean people used to take their family and their coach and things to the Olympics, I thought, seeing as it was such a big deal there would be something similar in place for the festival. But, um, if there's not it's no big deal or anything"

He trailed off uncertainly, looking like he'd want nothing more than to crawl out of his own skin and hide.

"You make a good point." Aizawa admitted, frowning at Yamada over Midoriya's head. "I'm surprised that this hasn't come up before, I will speak to the headmaster and see what can be done."

Midoriya relaxed slightly, tension sagging out of his shoulders now that he knew he wasn't going to be told off. Then something else seemed to occur to him. "Um, Sir, did you say I had to give a speech?"


	22. Chapter 22

"You're late."

Izuku rolled his eyes and pulled a face. He'd thought Kacchan knowing the truth might change things between them but so far, the only thing that changed was Kacchan making way too many punctuality jokes.

"I was showing mum where to go." He explained, scrabbling round for his tool kit and slinging it diagonally across his torso. His welding mask strapped nicely around his upper arm and he was ready to go. "She's really nervous. She's never been somewhere with so many people before."

"Ah," Kacchan nodded. "My mum and dad are already there so they'll look after her."

"Oh!" Iida bustled over, smiling. He looked even better put together than he usually did, not a hair out of place and glasses gleaming. "Is your mother here, Midoriya?"

"Yeah," Izuku grinned. "She was really nervous, what about you? Are your parents here?"

"Unfortunately, not." Iida said, shaking his head. "Both parents were unable to get time off work, my older brother has come though."

"Oh, Ingenium is here?" Izuku blushed bright red. Ingenium had always been one of his favourite heroes. "He's going to watch?"

"Oh, calm down, Deku." Kacchan rolled his eyes. "He was gonna watch anyway, this is being broadcast nationwide."

Izuku winced. He'd forgotten about that. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. He was going to have to give a speech in front of so many people. "Ah, right." He laughed nervously, latching onto the first thing that he could as a distraction, "Oh, Uraraka, are your parents here?"

"No." Uraraka pouted, shaking her head. "They live too far away."

"That's a shame."

"Yes," Iida agreed. "Still, it is interesting that they have chosen to issue family tickets at all, my brother said that they did not during his time here."

"Oh." Izuku blushed again, ducking down to make sure that his red boots were laced firmly. It would be just his luck to walk up onto the stage and then trip over a loose shoelace in front of God and all of Japan. He'd have to move to Mars. Forever.

Above them a bell rang shrilly and Izuku gulped as the waiting room burst into a flurry of excited chatter, Uraraka was looking uncharacteristically fierce an Iida's face had frozen in a mask of determination. Kacchan rolled his neck to the side and bared his teeth, the light of violent anticipation back in his eyes.

"Well," He said. "Shall we head out and show them how it's done?"

Izuku laughed. "Right after you."

The walk to the arena was somehow the longest and shortest or Izuku's life. The stadium was already packed as they spilled out into the sunlight, to the sound of raucous applause and Present Mic announcing something that Izuku was way to pent up to hear.

He scanned the crowds for the family sector but couldn't quite make out his mum's green hair amidst the crowd. He did manage to pick out three different cameras though, and there were probably more.

"Hey, so," He muttered to Uraraka, trying to keep the grimace of his face, "I need you to do me a favour, if I humiliate myself on national television, I need you to just high five me into the sun, right?"

Uraraka snorted, even as Iida looked on in disapproval. "Only if you take me up with you." She muttered back.

"It's a deal."

"Silence!"

The yell came from the stage in the centre of the arena and was accompanied by the sharp crack of a whip that almost had Izuku glancing round for Inko again. It wasn't her though, of course it wasn't. Instead Midnight was stood on the stage in the centre of attention. Particularly male attention, though Izuku could see Jiro turning scarlet out of the corner of his eye. Midnight certainly didn't wear _that_ to teach.

Midnight waited a moment, preening under the appreciative stares she was getting, and then cracked the whip again. "It is time," She announced, "For the Athlete's Pledge."

Izuku winced, stumbling forwards, hand going to his pocket to find the stack of notes that he'd had Inko help him prepare the day before.

"Good luck." Uraraka whispered as he started to climb the steps.

Okay. Good so far. He didn't trip coming up the stairs. That was a plus. Midnight moved back as he stumbled up to the mic and glanced down at the top card. His hand was shaking so badly he couldn't make out the first line. Right. He swallowed nervously and leaned forwards.

"My litter sister was killed in a villain attack."

Ah. Well that was not what he meant to say. Also, not strictly accurate. But he couldn't mention the others, Inko looked way too young to have four children.

"Um, well…" Izuku trailed off. The sweet sharpness of his mum's concern was buffering against the edge of his emotions and taking some of the edge off. "That was a bit dark, wasn't it? But that is the reason that I decided to become a hero."

He swallowed again, looking down at the crowds. There were hundreds of people he didn't know, but there, in the middle of it all was his class, looking up at him with encouragement. Izuku squared his shoulders and looked up, meeting one of the camera's head on.

"One of my friends, she decided to become a hero to help her parents, another to live up to his family's legacy. I have classmate's who want to be Number One, classmates who want to be Rescue Heroes, classmates who just want the attention." Izuku grinned wryly and let his eyes drift over to the support classes and to general studies. "I know people who want to be heroes by creating, people who want to be heroes by building jobs and infrastructures." Here his gaze drifted to the business class. He was trying to project confidence and self-worth. He wasn't sure it was working.

"The point is," he continued. "Even if we all have different reasons for being here, we are all giving it our all and trying our best. These are the first steps in our journey."

Izuku turned to the main camera and paused for just one moment, just long enough to be sure that it was focused on him and not the crowd. Then he bowed. "Please watch us carefully."

The stadium erupted into cheers.

Blushing wildly, Izuku stumbled back down the steps and attempted to hide in the crowd. With how hot his cheeks were, he suspected he might have a hard time fitting in, if only because he looked like a traffic light.

Kacchan was still waiting where he had left him and Izuku collapsed onto it with a troubled groan, attempting to bury his scarlet face in Kacchan's shoulder. Kacchan took it with surprising grace, patting Izuku on the head.

"That." Kacchan drawled. "Was not the speech we practiced."

"Ahhhhh." Izuku whined. "I got up there and panicked. Was it really bad? I'm so embarrassed."

"Dude." Kirishima chipped in. His voice sounded stuffy and Izuku hoped he wasn't coming down with a cold. "That speech was super manly, it got everyone super pumped."

"Really?" Izuku mumbled.

His question was hidden beneath Kacchan's much louder; "Are you crying?"

"Yeah." Kirishima sniffled. "It was emotional. Real men aren't afraid to share their feelings, ya'know?"

"Whatever." Kacchan scoffed, turning away but still not bumping Izuku off his shoulder. Up on the stage, Midnight started to speak.

Xxx

"And, the first task of the festival is off to a thrilling start!" Yamada shouted into the mic, his voice echoing throughout the stadium. "Or should that be chilling? Competitor Todoroki Shouto has decided to take care of some of the competition, freezing them to ground and taking the lead."

Katsuki snarled, shooting himself through the air after the half and half bastard that had attempted to freeze him to the ground. As if. He'd seen the Hero training tapes same as anyone. Like he didn't know what that candy-cane striped bastard was capable of.

"Are you gonna get off me?" He snapped.

"Sorry." Izuku yelled in his ear, arms unclenching from around his neck. At the first touch of frost, Izuku had lunged at Katsuki, clambering onto his back like a particularly clingy monkey. They weren't the only ones to avoid the frost. Vice-President had made herself a pair of stilts and Round Face's plan seemed to be just picking her feet up really high. From the looks of the empty gym kit and the yelps of complaint, Invisi-Girl's plan seemed to be literally climbing over the shoulders of the stuck extras.

"I'll meet you at the end." Izuku said, jumping off his back and onto a patch of unfrozen ground.

"Yeah, yeah." Katsuki agreed, eyes narrowed on the distant back of Hot'n'cold. He had a race to win.

Xxx

Urgh. Why did it have to be running? Izuku hated running.

Like, he'd do it. But he wouldn't enjoy it.

…On the other hand. Izuku slowed to a stop as he reached the end of the long corridor. Here, the obstacle course widened out into a more realistic track. There was just one problem.

"R-R-Robots!" Someone stuttered.

"Is this what the Hero course entrance exam was like? This is nuts?!"

Izuku rolled his eyes. It did seem a bit odd that they were reusing these. If nothing else, there were business, support and general study students here. Sure, they had to put on a show for the cameras, but it did seem a tad weighed in favour of the Hero Course.

While he'd been thinking that, Todoroki had already stepped forwards, freezing several robots and running through the gap he'd left between their legs. The general studies student, the one who had screamed the word 'robots' went to follow but Izuku managed to grab hold of the collar of their shirt just in time.

"Hey!" He yelped. "Stop cheating!"

"The robots were frozen in an unstable position." Izuku explained. "Any second now gravity is going to –"

His words were cut off by an almighty crash as the two robots collapsed, colliding into each other and hitting the ground with an earth-shaking shudder. From the pale face of the gen-ed student, Izuku hadn't needed to finish anyway.

"Thanks"

"Yeah."

Izuku had already stopped paying attention. There were two whole robots worth of parts down there, and Izuku had his tool kit.

Xxx

Jiro stumbled again and winced at the pressure it put on her ankle. Her sprain still hadn't quite healed. Aizawa had asked if she would be able to compete and she'd insisted that she could. Besides, it wasn't like Koda had dropped out and he was hurt worse than she had been.

It was just unfortunate that the first event was a race.

A revving noise came from up ahead and Jiro looked up to see Yaomomo sitting astride a sleek black motorbike. It was more fancy and polished than the basic electric scooter that she'd used in the Quirk test on their first day. Jiro guessed she'd been practising.

"Need a ride?" Yaomomo asked, beaming shyly at her.

Jiro grinned. "Isn't that against the rules?"

Yaomomo flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and pulled a second helmet out of her arm. "Midnight said that anything was acceptable. She didn't ban competitor collaboration."

Jiro shrugged. "All right then, mum says I keep off this thing anyway."

Yaomomo laughed and tossed her the helmet. It was black, Jiro noticed, and had a triangle pattern around the edges in the same shade of pink as her hero costume's face paint. Jiro jumped on the back and wrapped her arms around Yaomomo's waist.

The two of them sped off, easily skirting round the robots. As they zoomed past Jiro caught sight of Midoriya, sat in a pile of discarded robot parts and grinning wildly as he pulled what looked like a blow torch out of that kit on his back.

Xxx

Izuku very, very carefully did not cackle. There were cameras watching. It would have looked unprofessional.

He'd lost a good twenty minutes on this thing. But it was going to be worth it.

All the other students had given him odd looks as they'd run past. Well, that one pink haired girl had given him a thumbs up. But still.

It was a beauty.

Okay, no, it was very, very ugly.

Its base had been made out of the plating from one of the robot's arms. The steering was just a pole that you jammed into the ground to get it to turn. The engine was a fan, a flame and as much engine oil as he'd been able to drain out of these thing's pipes. But the point was, it was going to work.

With an air of self-satisfaction, Izuku gingerly sat in the very centre of the craft, steering pole balanced on his knees and welding mask still strapped to his face in a very inefficient crash helmet.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered. Then he pulled the string.

With an almighty splutter the engine roared into life, fan spinning and oil burning as he shot forwards, trundling over the ground like a speedboat skimming over waves. A very rickety speed boat. Skimming over very solid, very rock-like waves.

"Wooo hoooo!" Izuku screamed, voice trailing off as he sped ahead of the sound. "This is awesome!"

Xxx

"Ahhh." Toru whined, edging forwards. The rope was course and rough on her hands and she was decidedly not looking down. "This sucks, how am I meant to stand out in this crowd?"

She shuffled her hands further forward and inched a little further. The rope swayed violently as someone clambered onto it and Toru yelped, loosing her grip and only staying on by the tight grip her legs had around it.

"Woah!" She yelped, her hair tumbled out of its ponytail and towards the cavern below. She made the mistake of glancing down and wished she hadn't. It was certainly a long drop. "Typical U.A."

"Hey! Hey, Hagakure!"

She looked round, Sero was crouched on one of the nearby rocky pillars. He was crouched on the very edge and waving at her.

"What?" She hissed, struggling to get a hold on the rope. It was hard. The rope was still swinging wildly. She didn't know who was climbing down it but whoever it was, they were clearly heavy.

"Do you need a hand?" Sero asked, holding up his tape as if in demonstration.

Toru frowned. Giving up on reattaching herself to the rope with a small huff of frustration. "Yeah, all right them."

Sero beamed. "Catch."

He tossed the tape in her direction and Toru lashed out, just managing to catch it. She grimaced at the sticky feeling of glue against her hands and wrapped the tape a few times.

"Don't drop me!" She said.

Sero grinned and help up his elbows where the tape was still attached. "I wouldn't dare."

Toru sighed and relaxed. She screamed as she plummeted through the air, swinging sideways and bracing herself as the rock pillar loomed. She braced herself as she collided with it, her shoulder twinging as it bashed against the rocks. She was abruptly grateful that she had wrapped the tape around her wrist. If she hadn't, she would have let go.

She kicked out with her legs, pressing against the rocky wall and pushing her legs straight. Then she started to walk up the rock. Above her she could hear the tell-tale whirring of Sero, winding his tape back in.

A strong had grabbed her wrist and Sero pulled her, panting, over the lip of the pillar, snapping the tape as he did so and leaving her with the rest wrapped round her wrist like a white bracelet.

"Thanks!"

Behind them there was a loud boom, and both turned, startled, to see a metal boat soaring through the air, accompanied by a wild laughter.

"What the –" Sero startled.

Their platform shuddered as the craft landed on it, skidding across the rocky surface in a shower of gravel and dust. The engine spluttered and whirred as the boat continued, bouncing along from platform to platform in a flash of grey and green and loosing a rain of metal and screws as it went.

Toru snickered. "Our Prez is a lunatic."

"No doubt." Sero agreed, "Shall we catch up?"

Even though he couldn't see it, Toru smiled, "Definitely."

Xxx

This was definitely not his best work Izuku thought to himself, wincing as the crafts juddering motion rattled its way up his spine. The steering pole had snapped halfway through the chasm obstacle, so it was a good he hadn't needed to turn. Part of the steel base had snapped off during one of the jumps and there was a disturbing gap beneath his feet where he could see the ground rushing by too fast. The engine had also stopped working. Luckily that had happened over the mine field, so the force of the explosion had kept him going.

Metal squealed like knives on a chalk board as his craft slid out passed the finishing line.

"Out of the way!" He yelled, waving wildly at the people already milling about. "Out of the way!" Next time, he thought, make breaks.

There was a splatter of yelps as people dived to the sides and Izuku thought he saw Kacchan's unimpressed face flash by. Then, with a resounding crash, Izuku crashed into the centre stage and was sent flying.

He rolled across the ground and wound up face down in the dust, face burning and ears ringing with Present Mic's running commentary.

A foot pressed against his shoulder and rolled him onto his back and Izuku groaned as Kacchan looked down at him with raised eyebrows.

"Shuddup." He muttered, standing up and dusting himself off.

Kacchan snickered. "Interesting approach."

"Shuddup!"

"Really starting with a bang."

"Shut. Up."

Izuku glanced around. There were quite a few people in the arena already. Yaoyorozu and Jiro were hanging out near the walls and Todoroki was lurking nearby and glaring at Kacchan.

"How'd you do?" He asked. Over by the stage another bit of metal fell to the floor with an obnoxious clatter.

Kacchan clenched his teeth and looked away. "Second." He gritted out.

"Ah." Izuku winced. "Well, Midnight should be announcing the next obstacle soon."

"Yeah." Kacchan scowled over at Todoroki.

"Soon." He promised darkly, explosions crackling in his palms.


	23. Chapter 23

"Uraraka!" Izuku called, "Uraraka!"

"Huh? Oh, Izuku!" Uraraka turned, hair fluttering around her head in a halo. "I didn't see you, I'm glad you made it."

"Yeah," Izuku grinned, "Me too. Do you have a team for the cavalry battle yet?"

"Oh," Uraraka fiddled nervously with her hair and blushed. "Not yet, I thought you'd be teaming up with Bakugou though?"

Izuku wrinkled up his nose in disgust. "Nah, he's hell-bent on the ten million-point headband. Everyone's going to be going for Todoroki's team, it makes more sense to stay out of it and then go for the others while they're distracted."

"Great!" Uraraka beamed. "Teaming up with friends is the best, I was going to be on a team with Iida, but he went off with Todoroki. What's the plan?"

Izuku glanced around, catching sight of black hair through the crowd. "Follow me."

He caught hold of Uraraka's wrist and dragged her through the crowd. They passed a large group crowded around Kacchan and begging for a team up and were almost knocked into the ground by a girl with pink hair who shoved past them on her way to Todoroki.

"Yaoyorozu! Hey, Yaoyorozu." He called. She flinched and turned but didn't see him. Izuku bounced up on his tiptoes and waved wildly until she met his eyes. Jiro was standing closely next to her and scowled sceptically at him as he and Uraraka bounced over. To be fair he was pretty sure he had almost clipped her with his boat during the minefield obstacle.

"Are you two in a team?" He asked. They both nodded. "Great," Izuku beamed and held up Uraraka's wrist, "Room for two more?"

Yaoyorozu raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. "What's the plan?"

Izuku grinned a slightly evil grin and pulled a wad of paper out of his notebook.

Xxx

"Three!"

"You okay up there?"

Jiro shifted, wriggling her sprained ankle and grimacing slightly. "Yeah, I'm gonna be fine." The cuffs that Izuku had designed and Yaoyorozu had made glistened on her wrists and the headband was secured firmly to her forehead.

"Two!"

"Remember," Izuku muttered, half to himself, half to the others, "We have plenty of points, but we can't rely on that. Going for the high-points will just make us a target. Better go for the others while they are distracted going for it."

"We've got it, Izuku." Uraraka said.

"I know, I know." He muttered.

"One!"

The field descended into chaos.

"On the left, Silver-haired rider, seven hundred and five points."

"Right."

The group moved sideways, shuffling slightly awkwardly as they stepped into their rhythm. The other team was moving past them, eyes latched onto Todoroki and completely ignoring the others. Pink flashed as Jiro lashed out, her earlobe stabbing through the cloth and pulling it back to her hand.

"Got it!"

"Hey!" The other rider yelped, turning to glare at them.

"Fall Back." Izuku snapped as they approached. "Uraraka, extraction."

"Right." A tap on his shoulder and Izuku felt weight leave him. Two more taps and Jiro and Yaoyorozu were floating too.

"Hold tight," Izuku commanded, tapping his heels together and leaping backwards. The jump took them over two other groups, and they touched down in a clear spot, too far away from the team they had robbed for them to be an immediate concern.

"Hands!" Jiro yelled. Instantly Izuku ducked away and clamped his hands over his ears, he felt the tell-tale movement of the other two doing the same. Above them Jiro lashed out, her bracelet-speakers blasting a concussive wave of air and sound towards the pink tongue that was lashing towards them. She grinned viscously, detaching her earlobes from the bracelets and stabbing out with them. "They work, then. Good job."

Behind them a loud explosion shattered the arena, followed by Kacchan's foulest swearing. Looks like he hadn't quite managed to get the high-pointer yet. Izuku scanned the arena. He wanted to avoid going for his own class if they could. Too many people there knew their fighting styles.

"There!" He snapped, pointing with his free hand. "Large, yellow boy, slight dark-haired girl on his back. They're facing the other way. Momo, shield!"

If Momo was surprised by him using her given name she didn't show it, just zipped open her jacket to free up more skin. Jiro leaned forwards, she was sneaky this time, rather than forceful, whipping the headband off the other girl's head before they had even noticed that she was there.

The two turned, anger and shock on her face and…well, his was hard to decipher. He leaned forwards, Jiro pulling the band towards them quick as she could, the holes in his head filled and then a thick fluid was shooting towards them. Jiro yelped, flinching backwards and almost tumbling off their shoulders.

Izuku shoved the shield Momo had made as high as he could, wincing under the impact as the substance splattered across it. Out of the corner of his eyes he made out another group, not one he recognised, attempting to take advantage of his distraction. He whipped the shield round like a frisbee, spinning it at them. It tangled in their legs and stuck, whatever had his it had been like glue and the whole group went down like a pile of skittles as their leader stumbled over it.

A clang from his side and Momo was shoved into him, a sword in hand as she attempted to fend off another attempt. Jiro lashed out with another sound-blast. Izuku winced. She hadn't been able to warn them. Those speakers really were good.

"How much time?"

"One Minute!"

"Right." Lightning quick, Izuku ran through the options. "Uraraka!"

"Right!" And then they were weightless.

His boots spluttered as they rose. They weren't really meant for hovering but if Uraraka kept them weightless and they stayed up. He winced as the force shuddered through his soles. The others clung to him, Uraraka most of all.

"Where are we on the scoreboard?" He asked. The crowd roared and ooohed around them as the competitors behind them fought.

"Fifth." Uraraka groaned. Her quirk was taking its toll.

Izuku looked round, _There_! He tapped his toes, blasting more power into the boots and shot them to the right, almost, almost, _Now_!

"Uraraka! Drop us!"

They fell downward, boots slowing their fall but only a little. They landed heavily, right next to the group Izuku was aiming for. The blonde rider startled and lashed out, but Jiro already had her arms up, crossed against her face and defending the points. Izuku lunged, grabbed a random fistful of the strips around the other boy's neck and yanked backwards. The knots unravelled, hanging limply in his hand as he pulled back.

"Aaaand, Time!" Midnight yelled, whip cracking as she called the battle to a close.

Izuku looked blankly down at the strips in his hands. The blonde was barely a foot away, face contorted in anger and hate as he spat insults at them that Izuku was too numb to hear.

"Second," Momo gasped out, "We came in second."

Izuku beamed. Across the field Kacchan cackled victoriously, arm held aloft, the ten-million points just visible around his clenched fingers.

Xxx

"Can I talk with you?"

Katsuki turned. The half and half bastard was standing in front of him, shoulders rigid and face cold. He probably wanted to bitch about loosing but tough shit. Katsuki had won fair and square.

He looked around. Izuku was off with his group being overdramatic about something. He could always track him down later.

"Yeah, alright then." Katsuki shrugged. "What d'you want?"

"Not here." Half and Half walked off and, after a moment, Katsuki followed.

He didn't see Izuku look up behind him, frown, and follow.

Half and Half led him off to a dark corridor, off the side of the arena. For a minute Katsuki wondered if the other guy was gonna attack him. Which, you know, he was down for, but there was no way he was risking his chance to win this competition just to beat down this loser.

"You remind me of my father."

Okay, that was out of nowhere. "Who?"

Half and Half blinked. For a brief moment his impassive face twisted into an odd combination of satisfaction and anger. "Todoroki. My name is Todoroki. My father is Endeavor."

"Huh." Katsuki tilted his head to one side. "That why you got in on recommendation?"

Half and Half's jaw clenched, and he scowled over at him. By the end of the tunnel Kacchan caught side of a flash of green. Typical Deku. Could never leave well enough alone.

"As far back as I can remember, my father was always angry."

Katsuki cocked his head to the side. Was there something written on Katsuki's back that made people want to spill their guts to him? And if so, how did he get it off?

"Okay. And that has what to do with me?"

"I told you," Half and Half snapped. "You remind me of him. He wanted to be the best too. He wanted to be number one."

"Yeah, well."

"And he failed." Half and Half interrupted. "And when he failed, he made me. He married my mother for her quirk. Ice and fire. The perfect combination. And he made my siblings. One after the other. To surpass All Might. They failed. All of them. And when I was born," Half and Half clenched his left fist, scowling down at it. "The perfect mix. He pinned all his hopes on me. My mother couldn't bare it. I looked too much like him." He pressed his fingers against his scar. "She tried to burn him out of me."

There was an awkward pause. Katsuki wasn't really sure what to say to that. Deku was more the touchy feely type and he wasn't exactly chipping in. Half and Half's eyes firmed, glaring at Katsuki with steel behind them.

"I will beat you. I will achieve the number one spot without ever using my father's flames. I will deny him everything he ever wanted."

Katsuki didn't realise that he had moved but somehow, he had lunged forwards, fisting his hands in the candy-cane rejects collar and shoving him into the wall.

"Listen here, you smug little shit." He snarled. He longed to punch the idiocy off this guy's face and only the threat of disqualification stopped him. "I don't give a shit about your family. I don't give a shit about your father." He slammed the other boy against the wall again to puncture his point. "When we are out there in that arena it is you and me, and I swear to god if you do not come at me everything you have I am going to rip that smug satisfaction straight off your face."

Half and Half tilted his head, that same stupid blank look on his face. "We shall see."

"Don't look down on me!" Katsuki roared, slamming him into the wall one last time and then shoving himself backwards before he could do anything worse. He ached to do something to wipe that bastard's face clean. Cold anger washed over him. It was a rare thing. His rage tended to burn hot. He straightened his back and met Candy cane's eyes head on.

"Deku." He said, casually, gaze not moving an inch. "Did you already go to the canteen? We should eat before the next round."

"Ah," Deku winced, peering uncertainly around the wall. Half and Half's eyes widened uncertainly and flickered away, to the tunnel entrance. "Um. No. Sorry. I, um, I was looking for you and then…" Deku waved uncertainly. "You were busy."

"Right." Katsuki turned away from Half and Half completely, the bastard wasn't even worth his attention. "Let's go eat then."


	24. Chapter 24

"Izuuukuuuuuu!"

"Ah!" Izuku yelped as Inko collided with his back, arms wrapping around his neck and squeezing.

"Ahhhh! You're doing so well!" She cried, nuzzling into the back of his neck where he could feel her tears seeping into his skin. "Mother would be so proud of you." She whispered in his ear where no one could hear. "And father would ground you for recklessness."

Izuku laughed and squirmed round so he could hug her. "Thanks mum."

"Kiddo!" a hand landed heavily on his head, scrubbing violently through his hair. "You did well. Loved the rocket boots. I bet my little Katsuki was spitting mad when you showed him those."

"Mum." Kacchan snapped.

"Ah." Auntie Mitsuki beamed, redirecting her attention from Izuku to latch onto Katsuki. "You were great! Good job on the headband!"

"Indeed." Uncle Masaru said, smiling gently. "We were all very impressed."

"Yeah, whatever." Katsuki snapped, looking away like they couldn't all see his ears burning a pleased pink. "C'mon Deku."

He grabbed Izuku by the collar and started dragging him along towards the stands where the competitors had been directed to sit. Izuku laughed and patted Inko on the shoulder as she released him and instead attached herself to the arm of her best friend.

"We'll come find you after." She said. "I'll make all your favourites for dinner."

"Thanks, Auntie Inko." Katsuki shot over his shoulder.

Behind them Izuku heard Auntie Mitsuki moan; "How come our son isn't that polite to us?"

Izuku laughed, stumbling backwards as Katsuki dragged him faster.

"Actually," Someone cut in. Izuku turned to see Ojiro standing nervously nearby, tail flickering from side to side. "Could I have a quick word with Midoriya?"

Kacchan glared at him, then glanced questioningly at Izuku. Izuku nodded.

"I'll meet you back at the stands, alright?"

"Whatever." Kacchan let go and stalked off, shaking his head as if at Izuku's stupidity. Then again, he did that often. Usually for no discernible reason.

"So," Izuku said, soothing down his collar and turning to smile at Ojiro. "What did you want to talk about?"

Ojiro frowned and straightened. "There's something you need to know."

Xxx

"And here we GOOO!" Present Mic announced, his voice echoing through the arena even without the use of the microphone that let out a painful whine as it was blasted with noise. Izuku shared a wince with his opponent, a brief moment of camaraderie that probably wouldn't affect anything that happened next.

"In the left corner we have Midoriya Izuku, bit of a late bloomer but definitely making waves with his exciting creations and certainly rocketing into the finals with a bang. In the Right corner we have Shinsou Hitoshi, General Studies student and…Well, sorry to be blunt but I really didn't notice him this tournament. To get this far though, he must have been doing something right."

Izuku winced, shooting Hitoshi and apologetic look. That had been rude. He couldn't really fault the other student for glaring back at him.

"Aaaand, Start!"

Much to the obvious disappointment of the crowd, neither of them moved.

Hitoshi shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged helplessly. "It's a shame it was you I was up against first, you did help me out in the canteen the other day, so I guess I owe you one."

Izuku opened his mouth to reassure the other boy and then froze. Hitoshi's gaze flickered when he did so. Izuku brought his hand up to his lips and dragged his finger and thumb against them in the universal sign for 'zipped lips'. He shrugged apologetically.

Hitoshi's face fell. "Oh. So, you're just another one of those Hero Course Blowhards, looking down on us Gen-Ed's like we're worthless."

Izuku ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at his fringe nervously and glancing around at the crowd which was starting to hum restlessly the longer that the two went without fighting. It seemed unfair though. If Izuku hadn't been warned about Hitoshi's quirk he would already have lost.

"Answer me!" Hitoshi snarled.

Izuku didn't. Ojiro's warning still echoed in his head. Still. If it was going to come down to a fight without Quirks, then Izuku could at least make it a bit more fair. With one hand he unclasped the welding mask from where it was wrapped around his arm. With his other hand he unbuckled his utility belt, folding it in half and placing it next to his mask on the floor.

Hitoshi's face twisted. Even his fluffy hair seemed to twist into sharper spikes in his agitation. "What," He spat. "Not going to use your fancy little tricks on me? Finally gonna pull out your quirk? If you're hero course it's gotta be something pretty spectacular, right? Nothing like my Villain's Quirk."

Hitoshi let out a bitter laugh, clenching his fists against his sides as his voice rose to a crescendo. "I bet you had people lining up to praise you your whole life. What would someone like you know about suffering? I bet you've never struggled a day in your lie."

Hitoshi kept talking but suddenly Izuku couldn't hear it.

The sounds around him blurred together until they formed a meaningless buzzing that could almost be mistaken for screaming. His breath came in gasps, mouth opening and closing uselessly as he struggled against the heavy weight that had strapped itself against his chest. His lungs burned like he as inhaling the ash-stained air of his home. His mind recoiled against the emptiness battering against it at all sides.

And then Izuku was running.

He didn't even realise that he was doing it until he was colliding with Hitoshi, both of them sent sprawling to the ground as Izuku's breath pounded in his head and tears burnt behind his skull. He had put none of his fighting skill into the lunge. Nothing that he had learnt on the beach with Kacchan. Nothing his sister had taught him. Nothing he ad learnt in school.

It was just the two of them scrabbling in the dirt like children, in front of the crowds and the cameras.

A knee caught him in the gut and he yanked his elbow back, feeling a surge of dark satisfaction when he heard a gruesome crack. The taste of iron filled his mouth and he spat blood onto the dirt just as a flash of metal swung out from beneath his shirt.

Hitoshi saw it the same time Izuku did and was just a fraction faster.

He grabbed it, tugging hard. Izuku yelped as the chain dug into the back of his neck and then, with a sudden jerk of paradoxical relief, the chain snapped.

Izuku shuddered at the cold ice-cube of the illusion shattering as the perception filter slid of his neck. Then, for the fist time since leaving Gallifrey, Izuku was in public without a disguise.

The two scrambled back from each other, both panting sharply, Izuku's eyes fixed on the pocket watch dangling from the other boy's closed fist.

"Pretty stupid bringing jewellery to a fight." Hitoshi said. "This must be pretty important to you. It' be a shame if…"

He relaxed his grip, letting the chain slide through it. Inko's sharp spike of terror flashed like a beacon in Izuku's head.

"Don't –" He yelped.

Hitoshi smirked triumphantly, snatching up the chain just before the last inch rattled through his fingers. "Turn around and walk out of bounds."

Izuku felt the command snap into place in his body.

It was sort of fascinating to feel, really. Perhaps a human would have felt nothing until it was over. But Izuku was no human. He could feel the order settling over his surface thoughts, taking control and leaving the rest of his mind to poke in fascination at the mental tendrils running through it.

Izuku could break the order. All he would need to do would be to take hold of that one thread, there, and tug it loose. He would be free. But then he would have to explain how he had done it. And Hitoshi would still have the pocket watch.

Izuku sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. Just as his foot stepped over the boundary line.

"Um…Hitoshi wins…somehow." Present Mic announced sounding completely baffled as to what had just happened.

Izuku felt the threads in his mind snap and turned to see Hitoshi standing, completely blindsided, in the middle of the arena. There was blood dripping from his nose and a puffiness around his eye socket that spoke of future bruising.

He started to grin and then looked over at Izuku and hunched back in on himself.

He shoved his hands in his pocket and slouched over, eyes looking everywhere but at Izuku.

"Here." He grunted, shoving the watch at Izuku who caught it gratefully, not even reacting to sticky feel of the perception filter sliding back into place.

Izuku frowned. What was it Hitoshi had said earlier about a villains quirk?

"Sorry about your nose." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard, no hard feelings, right?"

Hitoshi glanced up, eyes glistening in something very much like hope when the accusations and insults didn't come. "Yeah."

"Tell you what though, with a quirk like that," Hitoshi's walls slammed back up. "I'd better be seeing you on the hero course, you're wasted anywhere else."

Izuku stuck out his free hand.

Hitoshi stared at it for a moment like it was a viper or a mouse trap rather than the peace offering that it was.

"Yeah," He said shakily, reaching out to take it. "Yeah, I hope so too."

Xxx

"That," Kacchan declared when Izuku finally made his way to the seats. "Was the most pathetic fight that I have ever seen."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"No seriously," Kacchan narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm embarrassed to be seen with you. We're gonna have to work on that."

If they hadn't known each other for so long Izuku would probably think that Kacchan was just being a dick. Instead he caught the way that Kacchan's gaze was flicking from his empty neck and back down to the arena. Izuku waited until the gaze was back on him and then patted the new lump in his pocket where the watch sat. Kacchan glared at him in a way that meant that there was definitely a screaming lecture about how careful Izuku needed to be with his secrets. He really could e like an angry mother hen sometimes.

"Who's up next?" Izuku asked instead of dwelling on his future torment.

"Me." Kirishima said glumly. "And him." He pointed at Todoroki, who was already making his way down to the arena.

"Ah." Izuku winced.

The match was hard to watch.

Todoroki was obviously on edge, scowling at the ground and refusing to meet Kirishima's gaze or respond to any of his comments. As soon as Cementoss called 'start' Todoroki shot out a huge glacier of ice, freezing Kirishima immobile. The thick spikes at its top spread out into the sky, almost piercing several of the audience on its accent out of the stadium's open roof.

"Right." Izuku said as Present Mic called Aoyama and Kaminari to the field. He grabbed his notebook and a pen, to Kacchan's eternal irritation. Todoroki was a total monster. And Izuku was going to have to fight him. "Is it bad that I'm actually glad I lost now?"

Kacchan snorted, watching Todoroki with narrowed eyes. "Don't worry, Deku, I'll make sure to avenge your lost pride when I smash that loser's head in."

"Comforting." Izuku returned, narrowing his eyes as Aoyama shot his naval laser and Kaminari just managed to dodge. "They're pretty evenly matched." He muttered to himself. "Both have strong quirks, they only really need to get in one hit to end the match." The issue was that neither of them were letting the other get that hit in. "The issue is that both quirks take a heavy toll on their bodies. Kaminari's lightning fries him at high voltages and Aoyama can't use his quirk for too long without hurting himself."

Below them a lucky shot sent Kaminari spinning out of bounds. Aoyama beamed, flicking his hair over his shoulder and shooting a peace sign at the nearest camera.

"It's hard to know who to cheer for, isn't it?" Uraraka said, puffing out her cheeks.

"Mmmmmh." Izuku agreed, tapping his pen against the paper as Momo and that pink haired girl that he had seen team up with Todoroki headed down to the arena. "Especially seeing as most of the finalists are from our class. It seems a bit unfair really."

"How do you mean?" Iida asked, fiddling with his glasses. He kept shooting nervous looks towards the stands where, Izuku assumed, his brother was watching.

"There are only three finalists from other classes" Izuku explained. "I know the actual challenges are decided at random, but the hero course is far better prepared for the exam than the other classes. They even dragged out the villains we fought in our entrance exams! None of the other curses had so much as heard of the robots before today!"

Iida hummed in agreement. "Still. The sports festival is a time to demonstrate the skills of the students for prospective internships. It makes sense that they should promote the members of the hero course."

"Yeah but even so… Oh my god!"

"What?"

Iida and Uraraka startled as Izuku lunged forwards, leaning over the railing and staring down at the fight. "That girl has a jet-pack!" He crowed. "And it's portable! And capable of sustained flight! That is so cool! I wonder how she miniaturised the process. I fiddled with the idea for a time with my suit, but I could never get it small enough to be practical."

Izuku yelped as his grip on the railing slipped and almost sent him tumbling head first towards the ground. Luckily, Kacchan was used to him and had already grabbed hold of his collar before he'd even started falling, dragging him back to his seat with an irritated expression.

Down in the arena Momo was getting increasingly annoyed as the support-girl hovered above her head, seemingly more interested in showing off her inventions than actually fighting. She produced a hook out of her arm and started swiping upwards with it. Izuku crowed in delight, cheering her on loudly and, no doubt, embarrassing Kacchan tremendously.

The match ended with a win for Momo, though the girl from support didn't seem particularly cut up about her loss.

By the time that the first round of the finals had ended, Izuku had filled up his entire notebook with analysis and possible helpful inventions. Momo would benefit from having something that would allow her to store high energy drinks and snacks on her person. Hagakure needed a weapon that was somehow invisible. Some kind of covering made out of her hair? He understood that that was how they had made her suit invisible. Beneath, it was a pretty hefty body armour.

Izuku was just scribbling the schematics for a type of collapsible bike for Iida (wheels plus leg engines equals instant motorbike) when they announced the first match of the second round.

Todoroki Shouto vs Hitoshi Shinsou.

Izuku put his pencil down.

Xxx

Katsuki could feel himself tensing, his eyes narrowing with laser focus on the shitty half-and-half he was going to be fighting later. Or at least that he hoped he was going to be fighting later. Spiky might have beaten Deku but he was no fighter. All Katsuki would need to do was keep his mouth shut and he'd be home and dry.

The two took their places opposite each other. Spiky was noticeably nervous. Half and Half had that same condescending look that Katsuki was going to wipe off.

"And, Start!"

Half and Half stepped forwards, arms sweeping up into his opening move and Katsuki braced himself for another massive glacier.

Then half and half stopped.

Spiky was talking.

"Come on." Katsuki muttered. "Don't fall for it, you stupid bastard."

"Oh, Come on!" Katsuki shouted, slamming his fist into the railing in front of him.

He fell for it.

Katsuki had no idea what Spiky had said but it was clearly personal because Half and Half hadn't even waited a second before answering. Even Deku had made it nearly the whole match.

"Well," Katsuki declared, slumping back down in his seat. "That blows."

Deku was still watching the match, eyebrows pinched in confusion, and lips slightly parted as he breathed "I don't believe it."

Katsuki sat back up. "What?" He demanded. Just as a shard of ice erupted from the floor, slamming through Half and Half's foot in a spray of crimson.

Their classmates let out cries of horror and concern and for a moment Katsuki was concerned that Raccoon Eyes was going to vomit, her face went that green. Not a good combination of colours. He made sure to lean out of the way so that Deku was between him and her. Just in case.

Then Half and Half swept out with his arm and a wave of ice threw Spiky from the arena.

"What the fuck just happened?" Katsuki demanded, glaring at Izuku and hoping that he provided an answer pretty sharpish. Katsuki _hated_ not knowing something.

"It was the pain." Izuku explained, already flipping his notebook over and starting to scribble on the back cover. Katsuki sighed and fished the spare fold of paper he kept on him out of his pocket and shoving it at the other boy.

"Explain more." Katsuki prompted when it looked like Izuku was going to get caught up on his thoughts and not actually verbalise any of them. Around them the rest of their class – or at least the ones in earshot – were also looking to Izuku for answers.

"The pain must have been enough to shock him out of the mind-control." Izuku explained, tucking his pencil behind his ear and watching worriedly as Spiky was carried out of the arena. "Ojiro told me he didn't remember anything before he was knocked, so it must have been the pain that knocked him out then too."

Katsuki took note of the fact that Deku had known about Spiky's quirk and still fell for it for future mocking. "Okay," He said. "But if Half and half was under control…"

Izuku shook his head. "I don't think Todoroki needs hand gestures to create ice. Even if his body was under control, he only needs his mind to make it."

"Alright." Katsuki agreed, sounding grumpy even to his own ears. "Shame you couldn't have figured this out back when it would have actually helped you. How did Half and Half know?"

Izuku leaned forwards slightly, eyes narrowed on the slim figure of half and half making his way out of the arena.

"I don't think he did." He murmured. "Excuse me."

Then he was gone, body ducking through the row of seats in the exact same direction that Half and Half had gone. Katsuki turned his attention back to the matches. He didn't have time to deal with one of Deku's side projects. He had a tournament to win.


	25. Chapter 25

**I do not like writing in Shouto's POV and I am very sorry if this is quite out of character. Rest assured, I will be avoiding long scenes from his POV in the future, it's just that for this one chapter I really needed most of it to be his internal monologue. Also is the name thing getting confusing? I'm trying to refer to characters as what that person would know them as but I can stop if it's annoying.**

 **I know some people might be a bit annoyed by how quickly events happen in this chapter. I sort of wanted to highlight the whole thing where Time Lords (Cough*The Doctor*cough) Sort of get involved in other people's business, fix things, and then don't understand why people are annoyed at them butting in. It works out for the Midoriyas here, but it won't always.**

Shouto was careful to make it inside the tunnel before he started limping.

The second he was out of the view of the crowds he staggered, catching himself against the wall and grimacing against the throbbing pain in his foot.

"Here." Someone said, coming up behind him and sliding his arm around their shoulders. "You're going to Recovery Girl, right? Let me help."

Shouto grimaced at the unmistakable forest-green hair of the class president. Out of all the people it could have been. His foot throbbed again as they took a step forwards and, without his permission, his hand clenched in the fabric of Midoriya's shirt, fingers turning white-knuckled as he forced down a grunt of pain.

A hand came around his waist and then Midoriya was taking even more of his weight, the two of them making an odd-looking couple as they shuffled down the hall towards the first aid room. This close Shouto could have counted all of Midoriya's eyelashes, could make out the faint freckle that he had never noticed on Midoriya's jawline, the mottled line of claw marks dotted along one arm. Midoriya glanced up at him and Shouto's eyes darted beck up before the other boy could realise that he'd been staring.

"Hey, so, I wanted to apologise for overhearing earlier." Midoriya began. He swallowed nervously, and Shouto could feel the way that the body beneath his arm turned it into an almost full-bodied flinch. "I was looking for Kacchan, but I should have left the second I overheard what you were saying."

"You should have." Shouto grit out. The burn of humiliation when Bakugou had called his friend out still stung. It was part of the reason that he'd been so forceful in his matches. That and his father's gaze burning into the back of his skull.

"Um," Midoriya started, flicking his eyes across Shouto's face and then looking down. "If you ever need…my mum's a lawyer?" His voice pitched up like he was questioning that fact and then he scrambled over himself to explain it. "I mean, she doesn't work as a lawyer at the moment, but she's certified and everything. So, I mean, if you wanted…"

Shouto barked out a bitter laugh. "My sister tried that when she turned eighteen. No-one is ever going to rule against the Number Two. Besides, where would we go?"

"Okay, but, if you did have somewhere to go, would you leave?"

Shouto pushed himself away, staggering as he put his weight back on his foot and pivoted to give Midoriya the most scornful look that he could muster. "What the fuck do you think?" He snarled. The words fell between them, as frozen as Shouto's right side. Then he turned and stalked into the first aid room, slamming the door shut behind him.

(Outside, in the corridor, Izuku pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial.

"Hey, Mum, I need a favour.")

Xxx

"You Mother FUUUU –" Katsuki screamed behind his mask.

Next to him, on the third-place block, Vice-Prez flinched as he struggled against the chains that he had been wrapped in.

On the other side the half-and-half, pansy-arsed, smug faced little Dick! Was just staring out at the crowds like he hadn't just tossed a match because of some stupid mummy-issues. Katsuki writhed furiously against the pole and tried to kick out with his feet, his snarls only deepening when he fell just short.

In the crowds His Mum and Dad were watching, and Auntie Inko was probably fretting and Deku was probably laughing and all Katsuki could think about was the worthless little _shit_ that had cost him his victory.

The ceremony went past in a haze. He was dimly aware of All Might putting a _worthless_ medal around his neck. Of the crowds cheering, of being untied, and then of Deku's face.

"Kacchan!" Deku yelled, lunging at him and grabbing him into a reluctant hug. Enthusiasm and happiness, tempered with a rueful acknowledgement of his anger, brushed up against his mind and Kacchan recognised the accidental overspill of emotion that he'd become familiar with ever since Izuku stopped pretending to be normal.

"Well done, Kacchan." Deku crowed. "You did fantastic."

"Urgh." Katsuki grunted, looking away and shrugging the other boy off himself, just in time for his mother to swoop in and ruffle his hair, beaming proudly and almost shoving him over with the force of her affection.

"Well done Katsuki!" She said, almost knocking over a black haired woman that was undoubtably Vice-Prez's mother as she tried to grab him close. "First place, huh! Shame about the ceremony, but I knew you could do it."

"They'll be lining up to offer you internships." His Dad chipped in, restraining himself to a restrained hair-ruffle.

"Ah you both did so well!" Auntie Inko declared, coming out of nowhere and letting his mum drag her into the hug.

"Damn Straight!" His mum agreed.

"You as well, Izuku," Inko cheered, pulling Deku in and brushing her hand against his bare neck in a move that Katsuki almost missed, a half-grateful, half sorrowful expression on her face.

Katsuki scowled further, remembering the other thing that had ruined his victory. He hoped Spiky did make it into their class, cause the first thing Katsuki was gonna do next time he saw him was beat the shit out of him for that pocket watch trick. It would be good if he could at least pass it off as training. But it'd be worth the detention if not.

"We're going to Yamamoto's tonight." Mum explained proudly, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him in the direction of the exit. "To celebrate your first Sport's Festival. Do you need to sign out or anything or can we just go?"

Katsuki shrugged. The thought of Yamamoto's did cheer him up slightly. It was the restaurant they went to for all major events. Important birthdays, anniversaries, that one time Deku had pointed out that the landlord was in contract violation and got the rent for the whole building knocked down.

"Ah," Deku yelped suddenly, twisting away from the group, "Todoroki!" He yelled, waving furiously.

Katsuki felt a twitch developing in his eyebrow.

"Todoroki!" Deku yelled again, ducking through the crowds and grabbing hold of the other boy's arm. Todoroki turned, a sickly, sort of stunned look on his face and Katsuki felt his stomach lurch remembering what the Half and Half had said about his father. About his Father's thoughts on coming second. Then he shoved it down. If half and half hadn't wanted to come second, he should have put up an actual fight.

"We're going out to dinner," Deku explained, pulling Half and Half over to their group. Katsuki could definitely feel the dread rising. "What do you have planned for later? Are you doing anything with your family?"

Half and Half shot Deku an incredulous look. One that Katsuki could feel himself shadowing. Deku had been there while Half and Half had been spouting off about his dick-dad.

"No." Half and Half said in that stupid monotone of his. Katsuki just managed to hold back the wince. Wrong answer.

"Oh, that's too bad!" Katsuki's mum said, finally, _finally_ dropping his arm. "Are they working?"

Todoroki shrugged and Katsuki winced again. Deku was getting that look in his eyes that got when the dominoes were lining up just right.

"Well, you should come with us." Auntie Inko said. "There's plenty of room."

"…That's –"

"A great idea," Deku cut in, grinning widely. "Yamamoto's is great, really, really great, they do an amazing Pork bowl."

"Ugh, and their sushi I to die for." Dad agreed, wiping his glasses on the hem of his shirt and peering round. "It's our treat."

"No, that's –"

Deku shot Katsuki a pleading look but it was the look of barely concealed panic on Half and Half's face that really sold him on it. He could feel the sadistic grin splitting his face in half even as he stepped forwards to loop his arm across half and half's shoulders and say;

"Yeah, come on then, I'm starving."

He started bustling Half and Half to the exit, Deku falling into step beside them and keeping up a wave of meaningless chatter that didn't give the other boy a chance to object. Katsuki kept his hand tight on Half and Half's shoulders just in case he tried to run. Though, to be frank, when Deku got a plan for you it was best to just batten down the hatches and go along with it. Deku's plans tended to be a bit inevitable.

Xxx

Enji flicked his wrist, sending the door behind him snapping closed. The office was dark. His interns and sidekicks had all gone home for the evening but Enji had needed the work. Needed something to take his mind off the anger brewing in him.

The flames of his beard burned harder and he picked a paperweight off his desk just so he could have something to smash back down onto it.

 _Shouto had lost._

He pressed down on the paperweight, the glass shattering beneath his palm, splinters stabbing at his skin as he dug his fingers into the wood.

 _All the training, all that work, and the boy had lost._

He snarled, glaring down at his hand. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he looked up. What was…he hadn't left his chair like that!

He lunged forward, hand grabbing the top of the chair and spinning in round on its wheels, fire blooming at his fingertips.

His hand slammed into a barrier, pain stabbing into his knuckles as he staggered backwards, eyes narrowed on the figure reclining in his chair.

"Oh no," The figure drawled, "Don't mind me. By all means, continue with your temper tantrum. Pretend I'm not even here."

Enji snarled furiously, fingers curling into claws. "You have made a mistake Villain –"

The villain laughed, shook out her long blue hair and crossed her leg over her knee. Her face was hidden by a painted mask but somehow he got the impression that she was rolling her eyes at him.

"I am NOT a villain." She said, "I'm just a concerned citizen looking for an audience with the," Here he voice turned into a sneer, "Number Two hero."

Enji growled. "Make an appointment with my secretary." He said. "I'm busy."

"I see that." The woman said, her mask tilting in the direction of the dented doorframe and then moving down towards the shattered paper weight. "But no. I don't think you really want me to leave. I have something that I think will make you waive your standard procedures."

The woman reached into the pocket of her ridiculously oversized pirate's coat and pulled out a thick folder. She placed it on the desk in front of her, angled so that Enji could see it.

Offended and Off-foot at having to act as a supplicant inside his own office, Enji snatched up the folder and flicked it open. He was expecting reports on a villain group, possibly another fool woman claiming to have borne his child. Instead he got facts and statistics. Numbers on his rescues over the years, and pictures of him at crime scenes.

Fire flared and then the folder was ash.

The woman shrugged and reached into her pocket, pulling out another, identical folder. She flipped through it idly.

"I believe you were on page four?" She asked, passing it over, "Truly fascinating stuff. Did you know that you have the highest collateral damage of any hero in Japan? And I'm sure that the newspapers would be very interested in hearing the number of hushed up manslaughter charges against you. Something about excessive force?" She mused.

Enji's hand twitched, but he remained still, mindful of the forcefield still around the woman. He forced the anger down, clinging to a manufactured calm as he flicked through the rest of the folder. It went back to the very early days of his career, police reports and witness statements that his lawyer had paid people not to mention. Even those payments were in there, accounts of witness tampering and bribery. There was even a section on his family. On the necessary training that he had given his children but twisted in a way that made it seem…For what was perhaps the first time in his life, Enji went cold.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Back of the folder."

Enji flicked through. Tucked into the back were several documents, he scanned them frantically and then dropped the folder onto his desk in shock.

"You can't be serious."

"I am." The lilted humour that had been in the woman's tone for the whole conversation had finally left. "I want you to sign the medical rights for your wife over to your daughter. I want you to agree to the support payments and I want you to sign the emancipation documents."

Enji shook his head. "I won't."

The woman sighed. "Well, that's a shame. I know how much being Number Two meant for you. It'll be a shame to see it taken away."

Enji glanced upwards at the security camera. "Blackmail is illegal. So is vigilantism. Do you really think that they'll believe your word over mine?"

"I was never here." The woman laughed. "The cameras won't have any footage to prove otherwise. Even if you do somehow figure out my civilian identity, I can assure you that I am currently eating dinner in a very public place, surrounded by some very solid alibis. You, however, are a public figure. Do you really think that the source is going to matter once those papers hit the internet?"

The folder was crumbling in Enji's hands. He thought about setting this one on fire too but the woman no doubt had copies. "He's my son." Enji said.

"Well," The woman leaned forwards, head cocking to one side as she folded her hands over her crossed knees. "I guess it comes down to this. What is more important to you? Your son, or your reputation?"

Enji growled lowly in his throat, fingers twitching as he imagined wrapping them around the woman's neck. Then he picked up a pen.

Xxx

Shouto fiddled with his napkin, rolling the fabric back and forth beneath his fingers.

The food had been delicious, and the Midoriyas and Bakugous had filled the meal with light chatting, and raucous laughter. They had seemed to have no problem snatching food off each other's plates or scraping food they didn't like onto someone else's.

They'd tried to include him in the conversation, clearly reading off the script of questions that you were meant to ask your son's classmate. About school and family and how the tournament had gone. At one point, Mrs Midoriya had started chiding Midoriya about the hover boat thing that he had made. Something about how the engine was attached? And how the flight could have been much more sustained if he'd done something or other to the oil?

Mr and Mrs Bakugou had laughed and started their own conversation, stating that 'those two were impossible to stop once they got started'.

Bakugou, it seemed had only invited Shouto to the meal so that he could stab his knife suggestively into his plate and glare at him. The first words he actually said to Shouto came at the end of the meal, shortly after Mrs Midoriya had offered to drive him home.

"Beach. Tomorrow." He had gritted out before they left, glaring past him at Midoriya who clearly seemed to get something more out of the interaction because he nodded.

"Come on." Midoriya said, "We're parked over here."

"Oh." Shouto said, following along. The warmth of dinner had already drained out of him. He would be home soon. His father would want to know why he lost. Why he had refused to use his left side. He could already feel the 'training' that he would be put through when he got back. Made worse by the fact that he hadn't returned home straight away to deal with it.

The Midoriya's seemed to pick up on some of his tension. They didn't say a word as they got into the car, merely driving along in silence, the glow from streetlights and buildings cutting through the darkness of the car like a knife as Shouto stared mindlessly out of the window.

He had thought that he could win with just his ice.

He had thought that he could win.

The car slid to a smooth stop and Shouto finally looked up. This wasn't his house.

"This isn't my house." He said. They had pulled up by the side of the road, mostly abandoned and nowhere near where Shouto lived.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Mrs Midoriya said. "I just need to pick something up real quick before we take you home."

With that she undid her seatbelt and slipped out of the car, leaving Shouto alone with Midoriya in a dark car. Shouto tensed, hand going to his seatbelt. He had been warned about the risks of being the Number Two's son all his life. If this was a trick…

The car door slamming snapped him out of it. Mrs Midoriya was back holding a medium sized box flicking the car light on and twisting round in the front seat to give it to him.

"Here," She said. "This is for you."

Shouto frowned, still not entirely unconvinced that this was a trap. It was definitely weird either way. There was a tension in the car that you could have cut with a knife, making the hairs on his arms stand on end, and both Midoriyas were staring at him with a laser focus as he lifted the lid.

Inside was a thin manila folder and Shouto flipped it open, almost dropping it as he caught sight of the words on the first page and his hands went numb.

"What is this?" He managed to ask through the buzzing in his head.

"Emancipation papers, forms passing power of attorney for your mother from your father to your sister and a legal contract stating that your father will deposit an allotted weekly sum into your and your sibling's accounts weekly to cover living expenses." Mrs Midoriya explained, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry for not discussing it with you before-hand, but Izuku said that you might need them."

Shouto shook his head. "Where," His voice cracked, and he licked his lips and started again. "Where did you get these? How did you – my father would never agree to –"

He trailed off gaze drawn back to the sheet of paper signing his mother's medical rights over to his sister. He traced her name gently with his finger. It had been so long.

Mrs Midoriya laughed, the sound soft and gentle, exactly as she was. "I have friends in high places." She explained, her lip curled slightly as if in private joke when she mentioned her 'friends' "They managed to get this rushed through tonight while we were eating."

"Oh." Shouto managed, staring at the documents. If these were legal… He looked at Midoriya. "Why did you do this?"

Midoriya shrunk back. Rubbing a hand nervously against his hair, eye pinching together like he felt guilty. "Er, yeah, sorry I know you don't really know me or anything…" He started, rambling and waving his hands in time to his stumbled speech. "It's just, when I overheard…what I overheard," He trailed off and glanced at his mum, Shouto was abruptly wildly grateful that Midoriya had clearly not told his mum exactly what Shouto had said. "you said that if you could leave you would so…" Midoriya trailed off again with a shrug, gesturing helplessly at the papers in Shouto's hands. "I know it was an overstep, but…you seemed kind of sad?"

"You don't need to do anything right now." Mrs Midoriya took over, "But if you like you can stay over at ours for a couple of nights, or we can find you a hotel, and we can go over to your house and get your things. Or, if you don't want to go back, we can send someone. Then we can help you find an apartment? If you like?"

Shouto swallowed. There was something burning hot and heavy behind his eyes, but he hadn't cried in years. He bent forwards, crouched over the papers and blinked furiously, glad for the dim light of the car. He should have been angry. Should have been furious at the invasion of privacy. Of them getting involved in his and his family's business. But all he could see was his mother's name, black on white. All he could feel was relief.

Another car drove past, the car bathed in golden light for a brief moment before it moved on.

"Yeah." Shouto croaked. "Yeah, I'd like that."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Shouto woke to a strange, repetitive warble vibrating through the room.

His eyes snapped open and for a moment the pale walls and gentle yellow curtains confused him. Then he'd remembered. He wasn't at home anymore. He was in the Midoriya's spare room. He never had to go home again. He sat bolt up in the bed, eyes automatically going to the folder that he had left on the bedside table the night before. It was still there. This was real.

He slides his feet out of bed and into the guest slipper that he had been offered last night. He frowns at his attempts to make the bed. The sheet is still crumpled, and the pillows look oddly flat. Then he picks up the empty glass of water by his be and slips out into the hall, making his way to the kitchen to wash it up.

The apartment is nothing like his father's house. It is smaller and yet, somehow, seems to contain more than his old home ever had. It is tidy, but there are things everywhere. Thick textbooks line the hall, piles of tattered second hand copies piled up against the walls where they had over-spilled from bookshelves. Engineering textbooks. Art books. Biographies. A 'how to' guide to basket weaving was tucked beneath a heavy stack of law books and an anatomy book was slotted onto a shelf between half a dozen cook books.

The kitchen spilled over into a lounge and dining room. On the table a spool of wire, a variety of bolts and a screwdriver had been left scattered over the wood next to an odd metal thing that looked a little like the unholy offspring of a toaster, microwave and TV. A small, old fashioned box television had been left on one of the chairs and Shouto could clearly see that the back panel had been taken off, and the insides had been gutted.

There was an odd shaped rack abandoned on the draining board, a variety of those plastic tubes that Midoriya was fond of propped up inside. The colours were new, midnight blue and glowstick orange. One of them had split open, acidic yellow foam had frothed up out of the crack and swallowed up the notebook that had been left nearby. Shouto could just about make out Midoriya's distinctive scribble on the rare flash of paper that could till be seen.

"Oh, Todoroki."

Shouto flinched at the voice, almost dropping the glass but managing to catch it in time.

"I didn't expect you to be up yet." Mrs Midoriya continued, swooping in and plucking the glass from his hand. "I'll deal with that, do you have any plans for the morning?"

Shouto shrugged, shuffling his feet slightly and feeling very out of place in this kitchen with his borrowed pyjamas and guest slippers. Mrs Midoriya was already fully dressed, her hair firmly tied and slicked back out of the way.

"Do you want something to eat? I can do omelette if you like? Or toast?" Mrs Midoriya moved past him to the sink, stacking the glass into the dishwasher and frowning at the mess the beakers had made of the draining board. Shouto braced himself for anger, his father would have been furious if any of his siblings had made such a mess, but Mrs Midoriya only leaned closer and squinted.

"He messed up with the separation fluid." She mused. "The chemicals have combined by themselves. That might be a problem." She prodded the foam and hummed thoughtfully when her finger sank into it. "Consistency's off too. What do you think?"

It took a second for Shouto to realise that the last bit had been aimed a him. "I don't know Mrs Midoriya."

"Call me Inko."

"What is it supposed to be like?"

"Ah." Mrs Midor – Inko wiped her finger clean on a dish towel and tugged at he notebook until it pulled free with a disturbing slurping sound. "It's one of Izuku's recent experiments. For rescue gear. He says he was inspired by a boy in your first class. One with sticky hair?" She looked peered at Shouto questioningly.

Shouto shrugged. He vaguely remembered a boy with purple balls on his head getting expelled on the first day.

"Anyway, he's trying to get the foam to expand into a soft rubbery substance to catch people who fall or may need to jump from tall buildings. The First batch was too hard, the second just fizzed and the third's reaction was too slow to be useful. He's having trouble finding chemicals that aren't too flammable." Inko explained. "He's going to be really annoyed that this one didn't work. He was convinced that he'd got it right this time."

Inko sighed and turned away. "Well, if you want to go get dressed, I can fix us up something for breakfast, Izuku won't be awake for ages, yet."

Twenty minutes later, Shouto and Inko were sitting at the table behind empty dishes when a loud thump and then a litany of curse words came from Midoriya's birthday.

Inko giggled. "Language." She called.

There was a hurried rustling behind the door and then it slammed open, a half dressed Midoriya tumbling out and attempting to tug a shirt over his head.

"Why didn't you wake me up!" He yelped, the words muffled behind a wad of cloth as he finally found the neck hole. "I'm gonna be late."

"It's a half day." Shouto said, taking a sip of his tea. It was delicious. He had no idea what the blend could be but was tangy and sweet and completely alien.

"Not for class." Midoriya shrieked shoving his feet into his bright red shoes and grabbing for the toast that Inko held out with a quiet thanks. "For the beach."

"Oh," Shouto frowned, "Bakugou said something about a beach last night."

"It's where they train." Inko explained, There were water bottles and fruit packs in the fridge that she was pulling out and stashing in Midoriya's school bag, perfectly timed so that she was placing it in his hand just as he finished tying his laces and stood back up. "Would you like to go with them? Katsuki did invite you, after all."

"Yeah, come along!" Midoriya chirped. "It'll get Kacchan off your back about yesterday and we'll be heading off to school after so you can come with us. You do have a spare uniform in your locker, right?"

Shouto nodded. He'd already texted Fuyumi. He'd be heading over to pick up his stuff after school. Their Dad was going to be at some meeting all afternoon so there'd be no chance of Shouto running into him.

"Cool! It's not far." Midoriya said, leading the way out of the building, with a nonchalant 'bye mum, love you' tossed over his shoulder.

"Bye Mrs Midoriya, thank you for breakfast." Shouto said, bowing slightly and chasing after Midoriya before he could get too far away.

"It's Inko, dear." Followed him out of the room.

Xxx

"…So, we decided to finish cleaning up the beach before we took the entrance exam, just like we'd promised to do. We got it done just in time…"

Katsuki cracked his knuckles in anticipation as he heard Deku's voice echoing down the road. He glanced up. The Half and Half loser was with him. Good. Katsuki hadn't known what Deku was planning when he dragged the other guy to dinner last night, but he'd been texted an update as soon as they got home.

He grinned nastily as the other two made their way down onto the beach. "Deku. Candy cane. Glad you showed up."

Deku rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm late. Get over it."

Katsuki grinned wider and caught sight of a familiar length of chain half hidden behind Deku's shirt collar.

"It's Todoroki." Half and Half interrupted.

Katuski rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Over that now."

Deku sighed, although Katsuki had no idea how Deku thought that this was going to go.

"Okay," Deku announced, dumping his bag and his jacket on the sand. "What are we doing? Sparring? Everyman for himself? Tag-team?"

Katsuki grinned and let his eyes fall into a half-lidded smirk, rolling his neck back. "Me vs. Him. No Quirks, no half-arsing it. Just us deciding who's best."

Half and Half squared up. "Fine." He snapped curtly.

Deku sighed and plopped back own onto the sand, fishing one of his doodads out of his bag and fiddling with it. "Okay. Everyone ready? Three, two, one, start."

Katsuki cackled and lunged.

Xxx

"He cheated."

Izuku sighed. The other two had been so busy trying to beat the hell out of each other that he hadn't had a chance to spar either of them. He'd wound up doing laps of the beach just so that he could say he'd done _something_.

"He didn't cheat." He said, ignoring the way that Kacchan puffed up in offence next to him. On his other side Todoroki was radiating enough smugness that you didn't need to be a telepath to sense.

The three of them slid into class just before Aizawa did. The teacher shot them an unamused look but, technically, they were in their seats before he came in.

"Hello class," Aizawa started. "Congratulations on your showing at the sports festival. We have received the intern nominations and will be handing them out today. Remember to pick your internship carefully. This is an incredible opportunity to learn and you should make sure that you are getting the best out of it. Don't just pick someone because you're a fan."

The aura in the room changed, people puffing themselves up in anticipation. Izuku frowned, he wasn't sure who would have picked him. Sure, he made it into the tournament, but he was knocked out in the first round. Plus, he hadn't used his 'Quirk' that anyone could see. It didn't matter how good you were, agencies tended to see your Quirk first, your performance second. Look at his middle school. He'd had the highest grades, solid Phys Ed scores and the backing of their most powerful classmate and people still scoffed at the idea of him getting into UA.

"But first," Iuku wasn't the only one in the class to tense at Aizawa's procloamtion. The teacher knew it too. He dragged out the pause, letting everyone get nice and worried before he continued. "You will be choosing your hero names."

Izuku froze. Aizawa kept talking, bringing in Midnight to judge the names and hand out whiteboards and markers but Izuku couldn't focus on that. He was vaguely aware of Iida and Ochako looking at him in concern but he couldn't bring himself to shake it off and pretend to be fine.

Names.

How could have not have thought about it.

He accepted the whiteboard with cold fingertips, placing it onto his desk with a solid click and staring at the blank whiteness.

How could he choose a name? Here? On this planet? With no family to bear witness, no parents to sing his name into the stars.

He wasn't sure how long he stared at the board but then Aoyama was standing at the front and declaring himself The Twinkling Hero. Then Tsuyu became Froppy and Kirishima became Red Riot and Kacchan's attempt to become Killing-Death-Splosion was firmly voted down. And Izuku's board was still empty.

Momo became Creati, Ochako Uravity and Iida became Ingenii in homage to his brother.

"Okay, is that everyone?" Midnight asked, clapping her hands together.

"Deku hasn't gone." Uravity chirped and Izuku winced, taking a page out of Shouto's book and just scribbled his name across the board, holding it up for inspection.

"Really?" Midnight pouted. "Are you going to be okay with just your name? At least Shouto says something about Todoroki's quirk."

Izuku shrugged, slipping back into his seat and waiting for the lists of hero agencies to be passed around to them.

Ground Zero squinted at him in concern when he didn't say anything. It wasn't one of the 'days' that he'd become accustomed to looking out for, so he was probably wondering what was going on. Izuku wasn't really a name that Izuku had chosen any more than mum had chosen Inko, any more than a Time Lord masquerading as a human might call themselves 'John Smith'. This, choosing a Hero Name. That felt different. That felt like a proper choice.

"Izuku."

Izuku bit his lip. His mother and father's names had fit them so well. Had matched perfectly who they were. Even Mum, she'd picked one that perfectly summed her up. She'd chosen when she was only a few years older than he was now and she had been so _sure_.

"Midoriya."

Sometimes he thought he might choose a Gillfireyan name. But then, how would he explain that to people? Unless he picked a word that was also found on earth. But that was so restrictive.

"Oy, Deku." A kick to the back of his chair jolted Izuku out of his contemplation and he blinked to see Shouto, Uravity, Ingenii and Ground Zero all crowded around his desk. As usual, Ground Zero had been the one to kick him.

The rest of the class was leaving and there was a list of agency names on his desk.

Izuku blinked again and then blushed furiously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ah, man." He said. "I zoned out, sorry about that."

"Are you alright, Midoriya?" Ingenii asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "It is unlike you to be so untethered. Particularly considering the internships."

"Ah, yeah." Izuku winced, "Sorry, Ingenii, sorry you guys." Ingenii preened at the use of his new name. "I guess I just didn't sleep much last night."

"Me and Iida were talking about going to get coffee or something to celebrate." Uravity offered, flicking her short hair over her shoulder. "We were wondering if the rest of you wanted to come along."

She flicked a glance at Shouto as she said it. He hadn't really spoken to many people in the class before so his suddenly showing up to class with him and Ground Zero must have been a bit of a shock. Still, she was taking it in her stride. Not even hesitating to include him.

"I'm sorry." Izuku winced, scooping up his list and stashing it safely in his bag. "Me and Ground Zero promised to help Shouto with…"

"I'm moving out." Shouto picked up as Izuku trailed off. "I plan to move closer to the Academy and Midoriya and Bakugou agreed to help me move my things."

"Really?" Uravity said, shooting Ground Zero a faux startled look.

"I can be nice." Ground Zero snapped. Hair bristling at the implied insult.

"I didn't say anything." Uravity protested, pressing the pads on her fingertips together in pretend innocence and ignoring the way that Ground Zero puffed up to explode. Then she turned to Shouto. "Can we come?"

Shouto blinked. "Why?"

"It sounds like fun. Besides, none of us have really hung out outside of class before." Uravity explained. "We should get to know each other better, Iida agrees, right Iida?"

"Indeed." Ingenii puffed his chest forwards and thrust his arm in front of himself. "Besides, if Midoriya has not been sleeping well it is out duty to help. Sleep is a requirement of the growing body."

"Exactly." Uravity decided folding her arms across her chest and nodding decisively. "Plus, it sounds like a good workout."

"You need it." Ground Zero snapped and the air around them went instantly cold.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Uravity snapped back.

Ground Zero shrugged. "You weren't at the beach. I had to spar with this loser."

"I thought that was just build up to the sports festival. I didn't realise you wanted to meet up after."

"That's because –"

"Okay!" Shouto interjected before the argument could get any worse. "You can help."

"Wonderful," Ingenii announced making another of his slashing arm movements. "Will we need to stop at the stop and pick up boxes on our way or…?"

Shouto shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "My sister said that she'd leave some in my room."

"Great!" Uravity bounced over, hair flying and grin on her face. "Lead on!"

Xxx

Ground Zero cornered him on the train.

They had got caught up behind a crowd and separated from the others in what Izuku was starting to suspect was a deliberate move.

"What's going on Deku." Ground Zero hissed, crowding him into a corner so no one around could hear them. They got a few odd looks for it but Ground Zero didn't seem to care.

Izuku winced. "Is it noticeable."

Ground Zero looked at him like he was depriving a village somewhere of their idiot.

"You spaced out during class, you put no thought into your hero name when you put thought into everything," Ground Zero listed. "And you keep calling people by their hero names which was cute, maybe the first time but is going to get weird pretty quick."

Izuku winced. He hadn't realised he was doing it. "You think it was cute?"

Ground Zero – Kacchan – growled at him and he dropped it, swallowing and looking down at his shoes. "I didn't mean to." He muttered. "It's just instinct. On Gallifrey you choose your name and once you've chosen that is your name. No-one ever calls you by what you were known as before."

Kacchan winced. "Well, knock it off. It's odd."

"Yeah." Izuku sighed.

"Is that why you didn't pick a name?" Kacchan asked.

Izuku winced. Kind of. "Names were important on Gallifrey. My name isn't Izuku. My Mum's name isn't Inko."

Kacchan blinked in shock and Izuku forged on before he could think to speak.

"No-one but my blood or my spouse will ever hear my true name." Izuku explained. "Mum. Her name. It's not that far off the name she chose on Gallifrey. Mum I mean, not Inko. It's why it doesn't hurt to call her that. Guardianship and protection and love. But we are the last. Do I chose a Gallifryan name to honour my people that no one here will understand? That might put the only family I have left at risk?"

Izuku swallowed hard and then continued. "I want a name that will honour my people. My planet. But then, our names are supposed to be a promise, an oath, a description. How can I have a name that holds my future while still keeping to my past. I am one of only three of my people left in all of time and space. There will never be more. How can I choose a name that will ever be as important as that?"

There was silence. Well okay, that was a lie. The carriage was filled with the bustle of ordinary, everyday people. But it felt like there should have been a silence. After a confession like that.

"I thought." Kacchan's voice cracked. He was never good at emotional stuff. Not unless he could shove a gruff exterior over it. "I thought that you and your sister where the only ones left?"

Izuku shook his head. "No." The words fell like stone into the carriage. "I don't know who it is. But there was one more that survived. That stood outside the destruction."

This close Izuku could see Kacchan swallow. "How do you know? I, mean, if you don't know who survived, how do you know they did?"

Izuku swallowed. His face did something. He wasn't sure what. He just felt it twist. "Because." He began. The words dragged from him. He closed his eyes. He didn't want to watch the words fall. "They caused the destruction."

"What?" The snap-crack of Kacchan's voice was almost a comfort in its familiarity. "How – what – I thought you said there was a war?"

"There was." Izuku agreed, opening his eyes. "There was a war. And we won."

Katsuki shook his head. "That doesn't – you said – you said you lost?"

If it were any other topic Izuku might have laughed. Instead he just nodded. "We did. We lost and we won."

"How?" Katsuki asked, his voice raw, the spikes of his crayon-yellow hair were starting to wilt. "How can you win and lose?"

Izuku's eyes were starting to burn but the rest of him felt cold. Very cold and very far away. "We won because our enemies burned." Izuku explained. His voice cracked on the next part. "We lost because we burned too."

Oblivious to their conversation, the announcer chirped out the name of their station, the doors sliding open. Izuku slipped through them, leaving Katsuki staring after him, mouth gaping and eyes raw with borrowed horror.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"Muuuum!" Izuku called, chucking another pair of balled up socks in the vague direction of his suitcase. "Mum, have you seen my special notebook? And my spare Acetone?"

"Rescue Foam still not working right?" Shouto asked, perched on his suitcase in the doorway and making absolutely no move to decrease the chaos happening in Izuku's room.

Izuku paused in scrambling under his bed to grab his spare electro-magnet to shoot Shouto the filthiest glare that he could manage, sticking his tongue out when the other boy only quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

"I will get it next time." Izuku grumbled, finally spotting the notebook. He'd been scribbling in it the night before and it must have slipped down between the bed and the bedside table. He fished it out, checking that the sonic pen was still tucked into it.

"If you say so." Shouto agreed. Very insincerely.

Somehow the other boy had wound up becoming a permanent member of the Midoriya household. They'd spent a few days looking for an apartment, but they'd all been too far away, or in too bad a neighbourhood, or too close to Endevour's agency. Theoretically they were still looking. But neither Izuku or Inko were trying to hurry it along. They'd come from a big family; they'd forgotten how good it felt to have someone else there.

For all their claimed impartiality, Time Lords were a social creature. Even their ships were alive.

"You know we're supposed to be leaving in five minutes, right? Especially if we're going to meet with Iida at the station."

Izuku pulled a face, tossing a sleep shirt on the top of the mess of his case and squishing the lid closed. Human manufacturing. It was always smaller on the inside.

There was just enough time to offer his mum a heartfelt goodbye, offer a promise to call every night and laugh as Shouto was gently scolded for slipping with 'Mrs Midoriya' again, and then the two were gone, dashing down the road towards the station where they and Iida had agreed to meet.

"Ah! Midoriya, Todoroki!" Iida called as they approached the station. Their classmate was sat on one of the seats, his suitcase neatly at his side and his school uniform perfectly pressed. Midoriya glanced at Todoroki, also wearing casual clothes.

"Where we supposed to wear uniforms?" He hissed.

Todoroki shrugged.

"Are you prepared for your internships?" Iida beamed, standing to great them. "I must say that I have been quite nervous for mine. It will be good to get a greater understanding of the hero industry."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed. "I'm glad we're going to the same place. Id be so nervous if I was just going on my own, Tsuyu's had to go all the way down to the coast, and I think Yaomomo said that she was heading down to Tokyo."

"Hmmm," Iida nodded and smiled. "I too am glad to have a friend with me; it will be very reassuring. I am surprised that you accepted the offer from my brother's agency, though. I had thought you might go for one of the larger agencies?"

"Yeah," Izuku trailed off, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. "Most of the offers I got were from support branches, though. I already know about inventing, I'm more interested in learning the ins and outs and practicalities of running your own workshop."

Iida nodded, "Good reasoning. I myself am looking forward to the logistics of running an agency. It seems something that will be useful in the future, how about you, Todoroki? I know many of the class were surprised that you didn't go for Endeavor's offer. The office that you went for was quite small, wasn't it?"

Shouto shrugged. "I thought it might be good to practice using my quirk in a rescue capacity, rather than just observing hero battles. I haven't quite decided which branch of heroics I want to go into yet."

"Ah." Iida exclaimed happily, starting a conversation with Shouto about different heroic branches while Izuku frowned. Endeavor had offered Shouto an internship, yes, but he'd also put pressure on other agencies not to offer Shouto one. In the end there had only been a few that hadn't caved to the demands of the number two agency. The small rescue agency in Hosu that Shouto had decided on was one of those five.

The conversation ended with the arrival of the train, the three of them bundling themselves and their suitcases onto it, almost overflowing with excitement.

Xxx

"Ah, there's little soaps in the bathroom!" Izuku exclaimed peering at the three tiny bottles. "How fancy."

From the other room, Iida laughed. "Which bed do you want?" He called, "We should most likely prepare to head over to the agency. It would be terribly bad manners to be late."

"Right." Izuku agreed, leaving the bathroom. Iida seemed to have misunderstood, setting his suitcase on the left-hand bed and beginning to unpack. Izuku shrugged and claimed the right bed for himself, sparing a moment to be delighted by the fuzzy complimentary slippers hiding in the bedside drawer.

It was UA'S responsibility to set students up with accommodation for the duration of the internship and the little hotel that they had found was both down the road from Ingenium's agency and absolutely luxurious. There had been chocolates on the pillows when they came in! And pre-prepared lunches in the room's mini-fridge.

Izuku slipped a mini version of The Clock out of his bag and placed it beneath his pillow. He still had the pocket watch around his neck but, after the sports festival, Inko had decided that it would be smart for him to start carrying a spare.

His phone buzzed and he opened it to find a picture of Kacchan smirking from the corner of the screen, the majority of the shot taken up with the front of Best Jeanist's Agency building. Izuku snickered and sent back a pic of the two free sandwiches in the fridge.

"Are you ready to head out?" Iida asked. "I believe that we are expected there at 11:00 and it is currently quarter too. I know that we are only five minutes away, but it is always best to be early to these things."

"Sure." Izuku agreed, grabbing the case that held his Hero Costume off the bed and grinning. "Let's go."

Xxx

"while the Heroes of an agency are often the ones in the spotlight, there is actually far more going into the running of a hero agency than what you see on the surface." Enigma, one of Ingenium's most recognisable sidekicks explained leading them on a tour through the building. Izuku had already snuck a picture of her to Kacchan and was revelling in the inevitable jealousy.

"—As you can see," Enigma continued. "Along with the heroes and sidekicks an agency will most likely also have a legal team, PR department and administration team at a minimum." She waved around the office and the relevant teams waved as she pointed to them.

"Why PR?" Iida asked. "Surely a hero agency would not need such a thing?"

Engima shrugged, leading them down to a small meeting room at the back of the building. "It helps to have someone to smooth over any potential issues. Some people like to cause trouble for heroes, some heroes may not be comfortable in front of a camera. A hero needs to have a good public persona, or else no one will trust them enough to allow them to help."

"Ah!" Iida nodded in agreement. "How sensible, I apologise if my question seemed impertinent."

"No worries," Enigma smiled, showing them a flash of oddly square teeth. "You are here to learn after all, ask any question that comes to mind."

"Here we go," Enigma exclaimed pushing the door to one of the small meeting rooms. "This is, Harri, hero name; Quetza and Hidehiko, hero name Cosine."

Izuku blinked. Beside him he heard Iida gasp in shocked awe. The woman inside the room was short, and built with soft round curves, dark brown skin and a dimpled face. That wasn't what aught your eye. Instead of hair the woman had a bright crown of feathers, plumes in all shades of green cascading around her face and down her shoulders. On her cheeks and forearms her skin was discoloured by shiny, dark green disks that Izuku belatedly realised were scales. He barely noticed the plain faced, dark haired boy who stood behind her.

He grinned, delightedly. "After the Aztec God?"

There was a pause before the girl, Harri, grinned back. "My mother is Mexican," she explained in barely accented Japanese. "Though you're the first one to get the connection since I came over."

"Oh," Iida crowed, "You are from America, how fascinating! Your Japanese is very good."

Harri inclined her head and grinned. Next to her Enigma took over again.

"Harri is a third year from America's Wayne Academy. When you go out on the streets tomorrow you will be patrolling with her. Hidehiko is one of our office supervisors, he specialises in accountancy and will be instructing you on the day to day running of a hero office. I leave you in their capable hands."

With that Enigma bowed and left the room. There was a brief pause, as the four of them looked awkwardly between themselves. Then, with a horrific scraping sound Harri pulled out one of the chairs, spun it backwards and then plopped down on it. She leant forwards until the backrest wedged against the table and she could lie forwards and prop her elbows on the table. Izuku could almost fee Iida twitching with the repressed urge to say something.

"So, take a seat, take a seat." Harri urged, her eyes were very green, the exact colour of her feathers and Izuku couldn't help but wonder at what her quirk exactly was. "Lets all get to know each other a bit better, we can talk about what exactly you want to get out of this internship and how we can help you with that."

Izuku and Iida scrambled into seats. Hidehiko had already seated himself at the corner of the table, with the utmost of decorum, back straight, hands folded precisely on the table top.

"So," Harri rolled her neck to the side, getting a good look at them. "My name is Harriette Lewes. As part of my University course, I am required to do a year's experience in a foreign country. I picked Japan cause; I thought its laws were the most interesting compared to back home. We don't have laws about civilian quirk use, but we do about hero quirk use, so I thought it would be a learning experience."

Iida tilted his head. "How can you not regulate civilian quirk use but regulate heroic quirk use."

"Well," Harri mused. "Some civilians have no say in their quirk use." She gestured at her feathers. "Way back in my mum's line someone with a bird mutation quirk married someone with a snake mutation quirk and we're the result. The physical aspects of my quirk I can't turn off. On the other hand,…"

Harri plucked one of the feathers out of her head and Izuku winced in sympathetic pain. The tip of the feather dripped some sort of acidic substance on the table, hissing slightly as it touched the wood. "Each colour produces a different venom, some are soporific, some are poisonous and some –" She gestured at the hole. "In Japan there are no regulations against excessive force. I could use the acidic feathers against a villain, as long as I did so with a hero licence."

"You see what you have done?" Hidehiko interjected, "You have gotten her started. I hope you are prepared to face a four-hour lecture on Quirk law and legal bias."

Izuku shrugged. "I'd be interested."

Harri grinned, feathers ruffling proudly. "A lad after my own heart."

"Regardless," Hidehiko interjected. "I am Hidehiko, no last name. I am a member of the accountancy team and am looking to prove myself worthy of more responsibility. My Quirk is named Bounce because my elder brother has an unusual sense. It allows me to calculate the angle of my throw to ensure that an object thrown will always return to my hands. I found boomerangs quite superfluous as a child. Your turn."

Izuku and Iida shared a glance and then Iida puffed himself up with anxious confidence. "I am Iida Tenya, hero name; Ingenii. I have always admired my brother, not just for his physical prowess but for the way that he was able to put others so at ease. It is my greatest wish to one day be a hero as incredible as him. I felt that by witnessing the way that his agency was run I may get a greater grasp of what makes him the hero that he is and begin to model myself accordingly."

Harri and Hidehiko shared a brief look that Izuku was unable to get anything out of. The desire to cheat was strong but he resisted. "and your quirk?" Hidehiko asked.

"Of course," Iida scooted back slightly and swung his leg up, his calf hovering just above the table, ever mindful of other people's property. "Engine allows me to more at far greater speeds than the average man."

"Flash." Harri nodded in approval. "Very nice. How about you After My Own Heart?"

Izuku shrugged slightly. "Um, so, I'm not sure if you watched the sports festival?" His voice pitched up into a question and he heard Hari snicker. "But I'm pretty good at building things? My Quirk is an analysis one, so it gives me a bit of an edge. I've been fascinated by heroes and quirks since I was little, so I've read loads of books on the processes and the laws and everything. I just don't really know much about the practical side of things?" He bit his lip and spread his fingers wide in practiced sincerity. "With my Quirk being what it is people will be trying to shove me into a support position my whole life. I wanted to get good enough at the practical side that they can't."

Iida was starting at him. Izuku could feel his gaze burning into the side of his head and resolutely didn't turn to look at him. Harri hummed lowly, acid eyes flicking between the two of them.

"Okay." She said. "I think we can work with this. Hidehiko can have you for today," He shot a look at Hidehiko who nodded affably.

"There is considerable induction paperwork to do." He agreed.

Harri pulled a horrified face at the word 'paperwork'. "Anyway." She bulldozed on. "You do that for today and then tomorrow you join me on my patrol. Sound good?"

Izuku and Iida shared a grin.

"It sounds brilliant." Izuku agreed.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"So," Izuku asked in between bites of rice. "How's it going?"

The silence on the other end of the phone was telling. Izuku winced and shuffled a little bit further away from Iida just in case the Kacchan explosion was loud enough that the other could hear. It was their second day patrolling and Harri had left the two of them in a sheltered alleyway to eat lunch while she dropped the villain she had captured that morning off with the police.

"He's not teaching me anything." Kacchan grit out. "It's all just crap about my appearance and my personality and dealing with the public."

"Well," Izuku considered, punctuating his point with a flick of his chopsticks and ignoring the fact that Kacchan couldn't see him. "Image is important. In some ways, as a hero, you are your own brand, and the more popular you are the more merchandise you can sell, the bigger your hero agency grows."

Kacchan huffed angrily through the phone and then there was the distinctive beep indicating that the call had turned to video. Izuku flipped the phone round to see.

His face spasmed and Izuku could almost feel the muscles in his cheeks tearing with the force it took not to laugh. Laughing would not be good.

"Go ahead." Kacchan snarled. "I can tell you want to. It's a joke."

Izuku winced. Behind the anger there was that slight hoarseness that meant that Kacchan was hiding pain. And why wouldn't he be? He had scored an internship with the number four hero, Best Jeanist. And, to Kacchan's mind, Best Jeanist was treating him like a joke.

Very careful to moderate his tone Izuku asked, "So, why do you look like Best Jeanist?"

Kacchan sneered. "He said I was too threatening. That he only took me on because he wanted to smooth out my rough edges and sort out my anger problem. Then he got his lackeys to do this."

Izuku winced again. Kacchan had worked so, so hard to win the Sport's Festival. Izuku had watched him train. He had been so proud of himself for that internship. He'd been glowing for days when he found out. Now, to learn that he hadn't impressed anyone…

"Well, that's just stupid." Izuku huffed, the bite in his voice sharp and deliberate. "Put him on the phone, I want to talk to him."

Kacchan quirked an eyebrow. But he didn't pass over the phone. "What are you gonna say? I'm not passing the phone over so you can try an intimidate B.J. I've told you before – you're not scary."

"I can be scary." Izuku mumbled. Relishing in the hint of the grin on Kacchan's face at the old argument. "Anyway. He's an idiot. He wants you to start manufacturing your hero persona, so he's completely changed who you are!" Izuku threw his hands in the air. "The best thing is to accentuate certain traits that the public will like. But the thing is to use traits that you actually have! Not just slick your hair back and pretend you're the secret sixth member of the backstreet boys!"

"The who?"

"Never mind." Izuku muttered. "Obscure boy band from the last century."

"Okay." Kacchan said, relaxing backwards. The tips of his hair were starting to flick up despite to copious amounts of gel and Izuku imagined it wouldn't be long before the hairstyle was destroyed. "How would you do it then?"

Izuku shrugged. "You're protective. You never leave a person behind. You may be abrasive, but that's the kind of thing that sticks with people, that determination. People can relate to it or aspire to it. You always push yourself to be better. And yes, you are strong. There are people who rank heroes just on that. You're also kind. Not polite, or nice, but kind. Even if you are rough. People like that. They like to feel like someone is genuine. Be a bit more polite in public, and a bit less aggressive and I don't think you'd have to work hard to build up an image."

"Sap." Kacchan scoffed, ducking his head to hide the pleased blush painting itself scarlet across his cheeks.

"Hard-arse." Izuku countered.

There was a shout though the phone and Kacchan sighed heavily, "Better get back."

"Yeah." Izuku pouted. "See you."

Izuku snickered and flipped the phone closed. Iida was staring at him again and Izuku ignored him, polishing off the last of his sandwich and tossing the wrapper in the direction of the bin. He crowed triumphantly, thrusting his fists into the air in imaginary triumph.

Iida was staring again. His gaze was so piercing that Izuku was half convinced that it could catch on Iida's glasses and start a fire. Then, the tension broke. Iida drew himself up to his full height, and blurted:

"Why do you never give an exact explanation of your quirk?"

Izuku blinked. That wasn't the question he'd expected. He was a Time Lord, so, he didn't do anything as telling as freezing in place. But this was only because he was very, very careful not to.

"How do you mean?" Izuku asked, cocking his head to the side in feigned curiosity.

Iida tapped his fingers together, a nervous tick that Izuku had never noticed before, and then somehow found an extra centimetre of spare height for him to draw himself up to. "You never give an exact accounting of your quirk – strengths, weaknesses, what exactly it allows you to analyse? I understand that it gives you some ability with machines, but is that not an invention quirk rather than an analysis? I am sorry to be blunt, but I have been your classmate for some months now and I am still not entirely aware of what you do."

Izuku did not wince. He was very careful about that. I don't know." He shrugged carelessly. "I guess I just never really saw my quirk as anything impressive, not like everyone else in class. I guess," Izuku rubbed the back of his head with a feigned sheepishness. "It's a bit like … did you ever see that old English detective programme? 'You see but don't observe'? I just pick up on all the everyday bits that people see but dismiss."

"I see." Iida nodded, returning to his half-eaten sandwich.

The silence between them felt awkward, even as the sounds of the city bubbled into it – cars driving past the alley they were sat in, the chatter and clatter of passing pedestrians. The faint hum of electricity buzzing at the very edge of his senses and the fell of the earth turning gently beneath his feet.

"I didn't know you were interested in quirks." Izuku blurted out, leaning over to get a better view of Iida's face.

"Oh, yes." Iida agreed. "I have always found them quite interesting. Particularly quirks with a physical component." He gestured at his legs.

"I guess that makes sense." Izuku relaxed, finally back on safe ground. "Like, mutant quirks – I've always been interested in how they worked on a genetic level. People get a bit funny when you're looking into quirks, like I know about the quirk factor and the toe joint – but take Harri for example. One of her ancestor's must have had DNA similar to a bird's, one must have had DNA similar to a snake – for such a complete mutation surely they must be altered down to the chromosome level – yet somehow they were genetically compatible? And the offspring is viable! I mean, Horses and donkeys have to have more in common, but their offspring is sterile! Harri mentioned it being back in the line."

Izuku waved his hands wildly to punctuate his point, Iida was staring at him and Izuku became dimly aware that he might have gotten carried away.

He blushed furiously, sinking back down into himself and covering his face in an attempt to hide the burn in his cheeks.

"Sorry," He muttered from his ball of humiliation. "That was weird. Was that weird? I got a bit carried away."

"Ah," Iida nodded. "There is no need to be embarrassed. Your enthusiasm is commendable. My family have always been interested in quirk physiology. Take Ururaka for example, her quirk is located on her fingertips and does not affect her physiology otherwise. Asui however has an entirely unique biology."

"Exactly!"

"My family has always been interest in the biology needed to maintain quirks, take ours for example. There is far more to our quirk than merely the engines."

"I knew it!" Izuku crowed. "The extra muscle mass – right? Particularly around the neck and shoulders – your muscles are stronger or denser or something to prevent whiplash at high speeds?"

Iida nodded, smiling. "I am surprised that you noticed." He placed a hand against his stomach. "We also have an additional organ next to our liver which extracts the ingredients necessary to create our motor oil."

"Do you have scans?" Izuku blurted before he could stop himself. "Have you ever compared the chemical structure of the oil to actual motor oil? Are there any foods that you can't digest?"

"No, No and yes, myself and my family are unable to metabolise alcohol." Iida said.

"That makes sense," Izuku agreed. "Ethanol can damage engines, so I imagine something in your body objects to it."

"Intense muscle cramps and an inability to use our quirk for days." Iida commented, idly shifting in his seat.

Izuku pulled a face. "Pity."

"My brother was distressed at his inability to 'Party'." Iida said, small smile flickering across his face before it dropped away into a far more solemn expression. "His companions at UA once convinced him to try a…I believe it was a Yaeger bomb?"

Izuku winced and Iida chuckled.

"Yes." He said. "My brother maintains that it was the worst experience of his life. I spent my childhood learning to make sure that I treated the other children with adequate care. My parents were very clear that if I ever collided with someone at full speed, or moved them too quickly they could be seriously hurt."

"Yeah." Izuku mused, kicking his feet out in front of him and examining the buckles of his rocket boots. There was some wear already. He'd have to make sure to fix that. "Kacchan used to have to put his PE kit in a specially made hazard box because it technically counted as an explosive."

Iida laughed again, this time higher pitched, and tapped his fingers together in that exact same nervous tick. "Yes," He said. "The thing is Midoriya…" Iida paused and shot Izuku a look, face pale beneath his shiny helmet. "I am very aware of what the human body is and is not able to handle. I requested that my parents record the sports festival so that I could go over it later and…that crash you had. That isn't normal."

 _Shit._ Izuku frowned and scratched at the band of his goggles. "What do you mean?"

Iida shifted uncomfortably, his metal plates clanking together. "The force with which you went into the podium. You should have had some injuries. You weren't even bruised."

 _Double shit._ Izuku laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck ruefully. "Yeah, mum told me off about that. She said she couldn't believe how lucky I was. I guess I didn't really think of that, I was just so focussed on getting to the finish line." _Please buy it. Please, please buy it._

Iida's face was still shadowed, his eyebrows furrowed beneath his glasses and his mouth cut across his skin in a grim line. _He didn't buy it._

"Baby-Boss! After-My-Own!" The voice echoed from the mouth of the alley and Izuku and Iida almost clattered into each other trying to stand up as Harri appeared. She had her hands on her hips and a satisfied grin on her face as she waited for them to reach her.

"I spoke to the police and it turns out that that guy that we brought in has been causing trouble for a while. Good job on spotting him, After-My-Own. And an excellent take down by Baby-Boss."

She ruffled their hair, a task made slightly difficult by the goggles perched on Izuku's head and made very difficult by Iida's full helmet.

"Come on, you two. If we can catch another two badduns before the end of the day, Cosine loses the bet and has to buy us dinner."

"Right." The two agreed, falling into step on either side of her.

Izuku was very careful not to catch Iida's eyes.

Xxx

"And that is the last one." Harri declared cheerfully, her knee pressed against the back of a struggling villain as she looped a pair of cuffs around his wrists. "Cosine owes us dinner. I hope you're in the mood for something ridiculously expensive, because I sure am."

Izuku snickered. They had only just made the deadline. The sun was starting to set, and they were due to head back to the office. He shot a glance at Iida, but the other boy had his helmet down. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Harri stood up and stretched, keeping her foot on the villain's back, her feathered hair stretched with her, fanning out around her head before smoothing back down.

"Right, I vote we head down to the –"

Izuku stared. She was still talking. But he couldn't listen. Something was wrong. Something was – Someone was screaming.

"Get down!" He screamed, lunging forwards and tackling Harri around the waist. The villain grunted at the weight on him and Izuku winced as claws scraped against his back – only the metal weave hidden in his coat preventing his skin from tearing as easily as the fabric.

"What?" Harri spluttered, twisting out of his grasp and rolling onto her back before swearing loudly. "What the fuck is that thing?"

Izuku didn't need to look. He could tell what it was from the screaming. He looked anyway.

He wasn't the only one. Around them civilians were looking to the skies and screaming.

He couldn't blame them.

The creature had large wings, and leathery skin in an ugly mottled grey colour. It was hovering above them, brain exposed, and odd metal gas mask welded to its upper face. Izuku fought the urge to gag. This things mind was just as twisted as the other ones, mindless unbearable screaming.

Iida skidded to a stop beside them, taking up a defensive position and radiating protective wariness.

"That's the same kind of thing that attacked us at the USJ, right?"

"Yes." Izuku stated grimly, "The Nomu."

"That's the thing that attacked UA?" Harri asked.

Izuku wasn't surprised she'd heard of it. The break in at UA had been top of the news for weeks.

"No, not that one. Just something like it."

"Right." Harri said, narrowing her eyes and tugging two long, emerald green feathers from her head. "In that case, you two need to leave."

"What –"

Harri continued over Izuku's startled protest. "This could be a continuation of the UA attack – targeting students on their internships. You need to get back to the Headquarters. I'll deal with this guy."

"You can't," Izuku protested, grabbing for his batons. "It took All Might to defeat the last one, besides, that thing can fly."

Harri sighed, flinging her feathers at the Nomu like knives. The creature shrieked and flapped higher to dodge, body ungainly and awkward in the sky. She looked past Izuku, dark eyes firm. "Get him out of here."

An armoured hand closed around his arm. An arm wrapped around his waist. Then Izuku was moving.

"Wait, wait, wait." Izuku yelped as the world blurred past in a sickening swirl of colours. "Wait, we have to go back."

Iida skidded to a stop, putting Izuku back on his feet but not letting go. "We can't." He snapped. "She told us…"

Izuku shrugged out of the grip. "We have too!" He snapped, grabbing hold of the lip of Iida's breast plate and yanking him closer. "She's not even a fully licenced hero, and she's on her own, and she's fighting one of those, one of those… things!"

Iida winced. "I know. You think I don't know that! Right now, our task is to return to the Ingenium headquarters and so that is what we are going to do! We can send backup from there."

"Typical."

The gravelly voice came from somewhere in the depths of the alley. Izuku and Iida moved lightning fast, twisting round to face the voice and angling their backs to the other in a defensive position, Izuku's hands on his batons, Iida's engine rumbling into standby.

Gravel shifted as a heavy boot stepped forwards, a flash of crimson and silver in the darkness. "Abandoning a side-kick to her fate because the battle isn't sure to be won. Leaving the people who need you to cower in a dark alley while your comrades die."

The owner of the voice finally stepped forward out of the shadows. Bandages covered his face, wrapping around a pair of wild, angry eyes. "You were already on my list, but after today, this is going to be a genuine pleasure. Ingenium."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"Hero-Killer." Izuku breathed, hearts pounding rabbit fast in his chest and breath catching in his throat. He flipped his baton out in front of him, the other hand sliding down to his belt and catching on one of his chem-sticks. He didn't have time to check the colour. But if they were still in the order that he'd put them in…there! Third on the left.

The Hero Killer grinned at him, a jagged flash of uneven teeth. "Child. You needn't worry. I don't kill infants. Once I dispose of this false hero you are free to go."

Izuku shot a glance at Iida, still warily ready to fight. "Um, I think you might have made a mistake." He said.

The hero killer raised an eyebrow, shifting forward on his feet and slouching in a way that looked casual but that Izuku identified as giving him full range of movement – ready to lunge. But he wasn't attacking yet. That was good. And, if he really didn't kill children…

Izuku moved, flicking out his hand and sending the Chem-stick flying through the air. Stain leapt back as the stick shattered at his feet, filling the air with a thick black smog. It would only last a few minutes.

"Come on," Izuku said, grabbing Iida's hand and pulling him back towards the entrance of the alley. Iida didn't move. "Come on!" Izuku hissed again. "We have to go!"

Iida shook his head, still staring at the place where the Hero Killer had vanished. The smoke was already starting to dissipate and through it Izuku could see the hulking shadow of the Hero-Killer moving slowly towards them.

"Maybe not so cowardly, after all, Ingenium." He chuckled, "But don't think that that will save you. You should have run when your intern gave you the chance."

"I am not Ingenium." Iida said clearly, pulling himself away from Izuku and removing his helmet. "And Midoriya is my classmate, not my intern."

Stain rocked to a stop, cocking his head to the side as his gaze flickered over Iida's young face. "Ah." He grumbled, relaxing out of his fighting stance. "What a waste of time. You, boy, should choose your heroes more carefully. It might get you in trouble one of these days."

Stain turned to go, stepping back through the smoke. A whistle of air and a thrum of an engine starting was all the warning Izuku got. Then Iida was leaping forwards, spinning in mid-air to sweep his leg forwards in a punishing roundhouse kick. A hand caught him by the ankle.

There was a frozen moment of time. Stain, large hand wrapped around Iida's foot – Iida, hovering in the air, determination on his face. Then Stain twisted and flicked, sending Iida spiralling through the air to crash painfully into the wall.

"Iida!" Izuku yelped, as Iida slid down onto the floor. Izuku darted over to him, one eye still on the Hero Killer, the other on his fallen friend.

"Don't be stupid, boy." Stain said, glaring down on them with contempt in his face. "I told you, I don't kill children."

"You," Iida rasped, his hand came up to clutch at his shoulder. "You said that Ingenium was on your list. That he was a false hero. You are wrong."

"I am not." Stain said with the conviction of a zealot. "False heroes, those that would pollute this world with their flawed goals and motivations. They should be cleansed. Ingenium, so obsessed with his image, with his fans, with his merchandise. He is no hero."

"He is the best hero." Iida snarled. Unnoticed, Izuku slid his hand into the pocket of his coat, fist closing around the reassuring weight of his phone.

"You know nothing." Stain shook his head, turning away again. "Go back to school, child. Do not waste your time defending flawed heroes."

"My name." Iida snapped. "Is Ingenii. Ingenium is my _brother_ , and I am going to be a hero just like him."

He lunged again, and this time Stain lashed out with a knife. Iida fell back, bleeding as Stain followed him forward, another knife already in his hand. Izuku darted in front of Iida, baton coming up to block the blow even as he kicked backward to force Iida away from the fight.

He retreated after his friend, eyes firmly fixed on Stain and baton raised threateningly. Iida fell into place beside him. There was a small trickle of blood running from a painful looking gash beneath his eye, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"You." Stain said, eyes fixed on Iida. "You would become another false hero?"

"There is nothing false –"

"Very well." Stain continued over Iida's protests. He knelt down and plucked the knife that he had used on Iida from the floor. Instead of returning it to its sheath, or even using it to attack, he brought it to his mouth.

The blood on the blade glistened wetly as a grotesque tongue laved it off the blade.

And Iida collapsed onto his knees.

"Iida?"

Stain moved faster than Izuku could follow, darting forwards and lashing out with a sword that he pulled from his back. Izuku stumbled backwards and readied his batons, crossing them in front of his face to catch the blade before it could hit him.

Stain cackled, his breath stank of rot and Izuku planted his feet and shoved back, the hero killer using the moment to flip backwards.

"I – I can't move." Iida grit out, "His Quirk. I can't. Midoriya, you should run."

"Like hell." Izuku snarled, entire body recoiling from the thought. He kept his eyes focused on Stain. Iida couldn't move? Then he'd just have to keep the fight away from him. He leapt, tapping his heels together and rocketing towards Stain.

Stain wasn't expecting it. The boots let him clear the distance between them in seconds, he lashed out, baton colliding with Stain's shoulder with a dull thump as he followed it up with a knee to the gut. The hero killer wheezed as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Izuku pressed the advantage, lashing out with a baton. If he could just get one solid hit to the temple – Stain grinned, glancing up at him.

Shit. He tried to abort the hit but it was too late. A hand wrapped around his wrist, squeezed until his bones screamed in protest and Izuku dropped his baton with a sharp cry. He twisted, wrenching his hand free in a move that felt like it had taken the top layer of skin off his arm and skittered backwards. He brought his other baton up and pain slit across his arm. He yelped, arm dropping useless to his side as the baton dropped to the ground. He couldn't feel his arm. Something heavy hit him in the gut – a foot – and he was sent skidding backwards, colliding with the wall and slumping down it.

"You fight well," Stain said, stooping to pick something from the ground. The knife! Izuku's stomach spasmed as he tried to lunge forward and Stain laughed, licking the blood from the blade. Izuku froze in place, body contorted in a lunge, one arm reaching forwards towards Stain, the other trapped beneath his body. "You I will let live. As for you." He turned, towards Iida, still paralysed on the other side of the alley. "So eager to cling to your false ideals. You do not deserve to be a hero."

He held the sword high above Iida's neck. It was almost a pantomime, how eager he was to draw out his kill. Still. It worked in Izuku's favour.

He hand flicked out, chem stick soaring through the air. Izuku had just a second to register that the stick was purple not green before the chemicals inside reacted to the violent movement and exploded into a mist of grape coloured foam.

"Iida!" He yelped, scrambling to his feet and stumbling forwards.

A hand came out of the goo towards him, wrapping around his throat and slamming him backwards into the wall. He felt skin split as his head bounced off rough bricks and winced at the two-hot feeling of blood trickling down from his hair and onto his neck. He kicked out uselessly, feet colliding uselessly with the armoured panels of Stain's costume.

Stain's face loomed closer and then there came the sweep of damp heat against his neck. A tongue. He winced, staring over Stain's shoulder. Iida had been half buried but his face was still free. He could see Stain's quirk do _absolutely nothing_.

"Interesting." Stain chuckled, eyes manic as he laved his tongue across Izuku's skin again. "Very interesting. I have tasted a lot of people's blood. But I have never tasted blood like yours."

Izuku went limp, slithering out of the grip on him and darting towards Iida. Metal clashed as Stain's knife caught on the back of his coat and stuck in the mesh. It was hard to move. The experimental trampoline foam still wasn't working right. Some of it had solidified into a sticky taffy like substance, some into a thick treacle mush and some into foaming bubbles that still fizzed and expanded. Everywhere you stepped you were either sticking, slipping or stuck. The only plus was that at least Stain was finding it just as difficult and he hadn't even had the foresight to treat his clothes with an anti-stick solution. Purple foam was sticking to his trousers and clumping against his boots and Izuku barely needed to hear the angry snarl to know to dodge.

A knife sliced across his cheek and buried itself into the soggy foam, never to be seen again. Izuku stumbled to his knees next to Iida, tugging the other boy out of the goop with a disgusting squelching sound and pulled him back to his feet, slinging Iida's arm over his shoulders.

"How did you – How did you?" Iida wheezed. There was a painful gasp to his breathing and Izuku suspected that he might have broken a rib when he went into the wall. That was the trouble with armour. When it dented there was only one place for it to go, and that was into you.

"Never mind." Izuku muttered tersely, ducking behind the mountain of ooze as another trio of knives clattered against the wall where they had just been. "Can you move yet? He's too fast for me to carry you and I'm pretty sure this stuff is flammable, I meant to use the sleeping gas. Forgot I'd brought the trampoline mix out to tinker with."

"No." Iida grimaced. "I'm still paralysed. I don't know how long for."

"Okay." Izuku stuck his head back round the purple mountain. Stain had gone. _Shit_. He shoved Iida away from himself throwing himself back as Stain leapt down onto them, sword slamming into the concrete where they had both been standing. The ground split beneath the force of the blade, shards of concrete flying through the air and catching against Izuku's face.

Stain spun on his heel, blade slashing out towards Iida's throat. Izuku lunged forward just managing to rap his entire body around that arm and throw himself backwards, knocking the arm off target. An elbow collided with his neck, shaking him off and Iida let out a horrible little choked noise. Izuku looked up. Iida's eyes were blown wide. There was blood drippling down from his throat.

"No." Izuku rasped, grabbing Stain's ankle in a chokehold as the hero killer attempted to move towards his friend. "Leave him alone."

Stain stopped, looking down at Izuku with an expression almost like pity. "Be still, boy." He said, pulling yet another knife out of his seemingly endless supply. "You have yet to disappoint me. Do not make me kill you."

Izuku hissed angrily, beyond words. Iida was so still, so defenceless on his back on the ground. He scrabbled at the buckles on Stain's boot, desperately trying to keep hold of something a Stain shook him off and moved towards Iida. He pushed himself up on his hands.

Stain stabbed down with the knife.

"Don't!" Izuku shrieked – the cry torn from his throat.

Stain jerked, his aim going astray and the knife stabbing into Iida's shoulder instead of his chest, he abandoned the knife and sprung upwards, landing on top of the foam mountain as ice spikes bloomed across the ground, stabbing up to where he stood on his steadily deflating perch.

"Honestly Izuku." Shouto quipped from the mouth of the alley. "Learn how to send a text. You're lucky I figured out that something was wrong."

Izuku ignored him, scrambling to Iida's side, and pulling him over so that Izuku could see.

"I'm okay." Iida groaned blood splattered across his pale skin. "You should go."

"Don't be thick." Shouto said, dropping to his knees next to them. "I didn't run three blocks to leave a soon as I got here."

Around them a thick dome of ice grew with barely a twitch of effort on Shouto's part. He reached forward with gentle hands, tilting Iida's chin back to examine the thin gash across his throat and pulling a medical kit off his belt. "What happened?"

"You know about the Nomu attack?" Izuku asked.

Shouto nodded, wrapping a securing layer of bandages around the padding of gauze that he'd pressed to the wound. That done he turned his attention to the deep wound in Iida's shoulder.

"Our mentor told us to head back to the agency. We ran into the hero killer on the way. He mistook Iida for Ingenium and decided to kill him." Izuku explained, neat, succinct, absolutely not blaming anyone for anything. His arm was still concerningly numb and Izuku shrugged his coat off and examined the deep wound on his lower arm. It stung as he twisted it round. The gash was deep and muscle glistened wetly in its depths, the skin around it peeling away from each other. He tugged a length of cloth from his belt and sloppily wrapped it. He was struggling with the knot when a pair of hot and cold hands took over, neatly tying up the ends of the bandage and tucking the ends out of the way.

"You are too kind to me." Iida grit out. Shouto had propped him up against the ice wall so he was at least in a sitting position. His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes were downcast. Izuku thought he might be crying. "This is my fault. He knew I was not Ingenium. He was letting us go. I attacked him."

"Yeah, because he said he was planning on killing your brother." Izuku pointed out.

There was a clatter against the ice dome as Stain attempted to break through, a distorted shadow wavering across them where they were huddled beneath it. Another flurry of blows, chipped away at the ice. Shouto frowned.

Izuku glanced up. "For a guy who said he doesn't kill children, he sure is eager to kill us."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologise." Shouto snapped at Iida. "What can we do – Is anyone else likely to answer your text? I told my mentor where I was heading but he was all tied up with the Nomu. I'm not sure how long it will take him to come down."

Izuku hummed thoughtfully, checking over his belt. He had a couple more smoke bombs, three cement sticks, one with sleeping gas and one purple which he mentally labelled 'do not use'. He had a couple of juice packs in his pockets and he tossed one to Iida, for the blood loss and one to Shouto, for the dehydration. Before going back to riffling one-handedly through his coat. He'd lost both batons. He really needed to figure out something to do if that happened. Maybe keep some knives in the coat? He unearthed a few actual bombs, just little ones, more flash bangs really. Slim metal disks secreted in the lining of his coat. But they came with the same problem as his rocket boots. Namely:

"I'm not actually sure if this stuff is flammable or not." Izuku said, shifting his foot in the muck and grimacing at the sticky sound of him unpeeling his sole from the goo. The dampness had seeped into his trousers through his knees and Iida's costume was basically unsalvageable – purple mess gumming up the joins and sliming down the collar. His head was covered in a fine foam of purple bubbles, like he'd just stepped out of the bath and it would have been a funny sight if not for the blood seeping through the bandages.

Shouto snorted. "Still struggling with the formula then?"

Izuku pulled a face. The hammering on the dome had stopped but the shadow still lurked nearby. Izuku flung his mind wide. Okay. There. Izuku didn't stay long. The hero-Killers mind was a rolling miasma of hate and bitterness and determination.

"Why does he want to kill Ingenium, anyway?" Shouto asked.

"He's the hero killer." Iida grunted. "Ingenium is a hero."

"Yeah but most of the heroes he's gone after have had some sort of record – civilian endangerment, or excessive force. Why would he go after Ingenium?" The _When Endeavor is only a couple of towns over_ was unspoken.

The miasma of hate was growing closer. Getting more intense, more desperate. Why? It violated dozens of rules but Izuku peaked, riffling through the surface layer of thoughts. _Ah. Okay. So that was why._ He wrapped the sleeve of his coat around his gloved hand.

"Why don't we ask him?" Izuku chirped.

The shadow leapt.

Izuku spun faster than Shouto could stop him, slamming his fist into the weakened top of the dome and shattering it. Ice swirled around him silver flashed above him as the sword came down.

"Why are you trying to kill us?" Izuku asked.

Stain looked uncertain. Frozen in place, sword halted only a hair's-breath from cleaving Izuku's skull in two. "What are you doing?" He snarled.

"Asking a question." Izuku pointed out. He heard a flurry of movement and a muttered curse from the remnants of the dome beneath him. It seemed Shouto was not particularly impressed with the plan.

"I have no interest in you, It is your friend, the false hero that I want to kill." Stain was shifting on his feet. The sword dipped slightly and brushed against Izuku's skull in an ominous reminder.

Izuku cocked his head to the side. "Why?" He didn't have that much time. Surprise would only keep someone motionless for so long. If he could just keep Stain talking.

"This world is filled with false heroes." Stain snarled. His face lit up with his fury, the manic light in his eyes doubling. "False idols. They are not worthy of the name. They scramble for glory and wealth and praise and forget what the core of heroics should be. I will cleanse the world of their stench."

Izuku hummed thoughtfully. That … sort of pissed him off actually. "Okay," He said. "So, are you also killing nurses and police officers?"

Stain faltered, the blade dipped again. "What?"

"Well," Izuku said. "Near as I can tell, you're attacking people because you believe their motivations for becoming heroes are corrupt – they're doing it for money or glory or power, not to help people, so, are you also killing nurses and police officers?"

"It's not the same thing." Hero Killer snarled, he backed off, sword falling to his side as he loomed angrily. "The heroes –"

"Are doing their jobs." Izuku interrupted. "Who are you to decide whether they are doing that for the right reasons? Who are you to kill them for not fitting your standards? So, what if they did it for money!" An image of Uraraka's face flashed through his mind. "So what if they're doing it for glory?" Kacchan, always pushing himself higher and stronger. "So what if they're doing it to be popular." Iida, lying on the ground. So still. "Why do you get to decide? They're still helping people, aren't they? They're still risking their lives every day to save lives! What are you doing? Killing them. Who does that help?"

"You are a child." The Hero Killer countered, shaking his head sadly. "You have spent your entire life inside a corrupt world. You understand nothing."

"Oh, I don't know." Izuku braced himself, uninjured hand going to his belt, stolen knowledge bubbling with delightful relish beneath his words. "I understand that your quirk has a time limit."

The remnants of the dome exploded outwards and Iida charged forwards, the same unstoppable speed that he had used during the sports festival. His leg collided with Stain's face in an audible crack of splintered bone. Stain was sent spinning backwards like a ragdoll. Ice followed, spilling across the mushy ground and walls, everywhere that Stain might try to gain his footing.

The Hero Killer smashed to the ground, ice nipping at his legs, his clothes, his hands. Almost nonchalantly, Izuku flicked out three bright-pink Chem-Sticks. They exploded on contact. Sticky solution instantly hardening to cement around his legs and hands. The fact that is also sealed his mouth shut was just an unexpected bonus.

Iida stumbled down to his knees, engines steaming slightly and legs cramping with pain. Shouto felt cold, angry and worried and annoyed all at once. And the black miasma boiled. Izuku pulled his mind back into himself. It was difficult, his thoughts protested being shoved back down and locked behind walls. But it had to be done.

"Well," He said, breathing hard in exertion and adrenaline come-down. "That happened."

Shouto glared. He had a very intimidating glare. Izuku was jealous. Also probably blood lossed. Blood deprived? Missing some blood that he needed to live? Two hearts. Everything had its downside.

"Next time." Shouto snapped, stalking towards him. "Tell us the plan before you throw yourself in front of a blade."

Izuku grimaced apologetically, trying not to sway too obviously. They made an odd group. Izuku, dressed in his old timey-gear, swaying slightly on his feet. Iida, an untidy slump on the floor, in full medieval night gear. Shouto, candy striped and jumpsuit clad. The hero killer, gagged and wriggling furiously in an attempt to escape the solid concrete that bound him to the floor. Not to forget the mess of half-gooey, half-foaming purple goop that was still smeared across the alley.

Shouto was taking in the same things. "What happens now?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously. There was a clatter of noise nearby, and the neon glow of Harri's mind growing closer.

"Now?" Izuku said, "Now we grovel."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 **everyone wondering how Izuku was going to avoid the hospital this time … you're welcome.**

"Hey!" Harri yelled, voice echoing around the closed space as she stormed into the alley like an Aztec god. The burnished copper armour of her hero costume gleamed dully beneath the ambient light pollution of the city. Her feathers had bristled upright like an elaborate festival headdress and even the matt of her scales seemed to absorb the light around them like the flat black of a sunspot against the face a billion year old star.

It was possible, Izuku mused to himself, swaying slightly, that he had lost too much blood. Certainly the dampness he could feel brushing up against his coat sleeve was never a good sign. He should really call his sister for a hand with that. Alien blood and all. Probably shouldn't leave that lying around.

"I thought I told you to head back to the agency?" Harri snapped, stomping to a stop in front of them and folding her arms like a mother as she tapped her foot sharply against the pavement. Or, well, what would have been sharply if her foot hadn't squished through half an inch of foam on the way down.

"How do you know we're not?" Izuku asked. He frowned. He wasn't the only one. Shouto was giving him a look like Izuku had left his second heart at home.

"How did you know?" Izuku corrected. He idly noticed that he was still swaying and propped himself up against the nearest surface. The nearest surface was Shouto. But he didn't seem to mind.

"You know," Izuku said wonderingly. "I think I have a concussion. I've never had a concussion before. The world is spinning the wrong way."

"It's very odd." Izuku added.

He thought he might be missing time. He was certainly missing blood. He made a note to laugh at the pun later when it wouldn't make his head turn. Perhaps being thrown into walls and kicked about was not a good thing. He had ended up sitting on the floor, against the wall of the alley, even though he had definitely not been there a minute ago. There were two funny coloured dots in front of his eyes. Like two different kinds of stars, the orangey burney ones and the cold blue ones that weren't really cold. They went away and then came back. Izuku frowned. They did it again. Oh. They were eyes.

"Hullo." Said Izuku to the eyes. The blood had finished soaking through his coat sleeve and was now starting to seep into his trousers. That was a shame. He liked these trousers. They were heroic.

"Hello Izuku." Shouto said. "Can you stay awake please. Harri is calling an ambulance."

Izuku blinked. "Oh, I don't need an ambulance." He said. "I'm fine."

Shouto's face twitched. "You definitely need an ambulance, idiot. Why didn't you say you were hurt when I was helping Iida?"

"Iida needed help more." Izuku pointed out. He might feel fuzzy but his head was very clear on that point. "I just forgot how to turn the blood bit off. I think mama might have taught me how to do it once?" Izuku cocked his head to the side. "Or maybe that was something else. She taught me how to breath in space though."

Shouto shook his head, looking mildly amused despite himself. "Okay then."

Something vitally important occurred to him and Izuku patted at Shouto's arm with a heavy hand, clumsy hand. "Shouto." He hissed. "Shouto, I don't want to regenerate."

"You're not going to …" Shouto trailed off. He had started speaking before Izuku finished and seemed surprised by where the sentence had gone.

"What is regeneration?"

"Iida!" Izuku crowed, finally noticing that his friend was sat beside him. He had wondered how the wall could be in two places at once. "There you are! Are you okay?"

"I am fine." Iida said, worried little frown between his eyebrows. Izuku was hit with the sudden urge to poke it. "You should worry about your self more."

"I'm fine." Izuku objected, flapping his un-bleeding hand. "Totally fine. No medic needed. I'm just gonna have a li'l" The word was swallowed by a deep yawn. His body was slowing down in order to preserve function and prevent blood loss. "A li'l nap." He finished, blinking his eyes closed.

Xxx

"Izuku!"

"Midoriya!"

He and Iida yelled out at the same time, almost bashing into each other in their attempt to grab at Izuku as he slumped sideways against the wall, eyes fluttering closed. The shout grabbed that green haired hero – Harri's – attention and she looked up from where she was checking over the hero-killer darting to their side in an instant. She brushed the two of them out of the way and reached for Izuku's neck.

Iida and Shouto watched with bated breath as Harri's eyes flickered and then pinched into a worried frown.

"He has a pulse." She said, still frowning faintly. "But it's much too fast and he's losing blood quicker than he should be. Do you know if the Hero-Killer had anything on his blades?"

Iida shook his head. "His quirk was dependant upon him consuming the blood that they collected."

Harri frowned deeper. "Doesn't necessarily mean anything. He could have built up immunity." She sized the two of them up. Iida was still hunched slightly around his ribs, wheezing gently with each exhale. "We need to leave now. I've called an ambulance, but we can meet them half way. Can you carry him?"

She directed the last at Shouto who nodded. He'd barely been injured in the fight. She slid Izuku onto his back, and hooked Iida's arm around her shoulders to support his weight.

"What about –" Iida began, glancing over his shoulder.

"He'll keep." Harri interrupted. "I jabbed him with a sleeping feather just in case, but it didn't look like he was going anywhere anyway. I've sent out an alert, the main thing is getting you boys some help."

They must have made an odd group to anyone that might have been watching. Shouto, shuffling along with Izuku slumped over his back, Harri attempting to support the weight of the much taller Iida.

Izuku felt worryingly warm against Shouto's back, and he could feel the unnerving dampness of the other boy's coat. He wondered how long Izuku had been bleeding for. Maybe that was why he didn't notice. He was distracted by cataloguing the gentle breaths against the back of his neck. The too fast thrum of the heartbeat against his back. But Shouto would not give himself that excuse. He hadn't been paying attention. And then Izuku was gone. Claws scraped against his back as Izuku was torn from him, wind buffeting against him with enough force to bring him to his knees. Beside him, Harri let out a scream of anger and denial. Shouto looked up.

A Nomu hovered above them, wings a nobbled, grotesque curtain against the sky. Izuku hung from its claws. Harri snarled something in a language that Shouto did not speak and then emerald feathers were spinning through the air towards it. The creature dodged, flying higher that Harri could throw and she swore again, head whipping from side to side before she sprinted for the fire escape of a nearby building, combat boots clanking against the metal as she pounded upwards.

Shouto lashed out, ice scorching the air in front of them as jagged spikes clawed towards the creature then paused. He didn't know how to grab it without grabbing Izuku too. With the blood loss Shouto didn't think he could handle the shock of the freezing cold.

The monster shrieked flapping its wings and climbing higher. Shouto lashed out with his ice, trying to cage the monster in but it was impossible, it just kept flying higher. Green feathers lanced against the night sky, spiralled and fell short.

A hand latched onto his shoulder like a claw and Shouto flinched before realising that it was just Iida.

"Use your fire!" Iida yelled, shaking Shouto slightly. "If we can get it to drop Izuku I can catch it. The fire will startle it into dropping him."

Shouto shook his head, sending another spike of ice that the creature dodged. "I can't." He said.

"Why not!" Iida snapped.

Above them, Harri let out another scream of anger. Izuku was so limp in the Nomu's grip.

"I swore!" Shouto snapped, gripping his right wrist with his left hand. "I swore that I would become a hero without using my father's power!"

Shouto didn't see the hit. All he knew was that one second he was on his feet and the next he was on the floor, cheek throbbing and Iida looking down on him in disgust.

"He's your friend isn't he?" Iida demanded. "You can save him! What sort of hero doesn't save a life because of their pride! He would save you!"

He had saved him. He had listened and then he had acted. Shouto had never tried to tell someone about his father before. He had never thought it would change anything. But Izuku had heard. And he had listened. And he had changed things.

And Shouto could save him.

Fire bloomed against his skin, turning his shirt to cinders and filling the alley with heat. A ramp of ice grew from his feet, smooth and ready. Iida revved his engines in preparation, glasses glinting in the flickering light.

Shouto reached out. Flame scored across the Nomu's wing, charring the paper skin to ash as the Nomu shrieked and screamed and, finally, let Izuku drop.

Right into the tar-black pool that opened in the air beneath him and swallowed him up without a sound.

Shouto collapsed to his knees. The Nomu was still screaming but Shouto couldn't hear it.

Izuku was gone.

Xxx

Izuku woke on the floor.

The ground was smooth and wooden beneath a head that was less groggy than it had been before and ankles that were a lot breezier.

Izuku sat up.

His hero costume had been removed and replaced with a pair of white cotton pyjamas. When he checked his wrist, his coverings had been replaced with tightly bound bandages, clean, white without the trace of blood. He wrist ached as he move it to check, and he noticed the small pinprick of what must have been an IV in the crook of his elbow.

He licked the spot, taking in the taste of saline and electrolytes. They'd given him something to hydrate then, not a blood transplant. That was good. That could have been unpleasant.

His feet were bare and cold against the floor as Izuku stood up, stumbling slightly with the aftereffects of his blood loss. His clock was no longer hanging around his neck and, when he fumbled through the pockets of his pyjamas, it did not miraculously reappear.

"Ah, young Midoriya."

Izuku flinched at the voice, turning to see the same misty villain that had attacked the USJ. He had poured his immaterial body into a high quality three piece suit, but it wasn't much of a disguise. He was also standing behind a well-stocked bar.

Izuku glanced around. He was definitely in some sort of fancy club. It was high class and swish and somewhere that he had never envisioned for the hand-guy's lair. In so much as he'd thought about it, he'd been picturing a grimy dungeon or an abandoned warehouse. Something that wouldn't have seemed out of place on the cover of a grunge CD or something. He curled his toes into the cold wood, wishing that they'd at least left him his sonic pen for comfort.

"You know," He began, striving for casual and falling a few octaves short. "I don't think I'm allowed to be in here, underage and all that, if you could just show me the exit, I'll be out of your hair?"

His gaze flickered to the cloud of smoke masquerading as a head. "Metaphorically." He added.

The mist villain – Kurogiri – laughed, holding the wine glass he was polishing up to the light and then wiping an imaginary smudge from the side.

"I'm afraid that that will not be possible." He said. "The Boss would like to meet you. Please, come with me."

He may have said please, but he certainly wasn't giving Izuku a choice. He had barely finished speaking before the ground had opened up beneath Izuku and neatly deposited him somewhere else.

Izuku flinched as his feet moved from the smooth wood of the bar and sank into soft carpeting. Someone clearly like luxury. He had been dropped in a corridor, directly facing a large, and unnecessarily ornately decorated door. He edged back slightly, as if there was anywhere for him to run.

"Go on," Kurogiri chided. "The boss would like to speak to you alone."

Izuku winced but, again, it didn't look like he was going to be given much of a choice. He edged forwards, the carpe soft and soothing against his feet even as the rest of him tensed bowstring tight.

The door was far to well maintained to creak when he pulled it open. It closed heavily behind him as he slid through the gap and into the room, the thunk of it closing sounded almost like the click of the lock or the crack of a gavel. The sound of finality.

A chair dominated the centre of the room. Around it screens and wires and desktops displayed a surveillance system that far outstripped any that Izuku had ever seen. On the flickering desktops he could make out snapshots of the city. Endeavor, walking through the front doors of his hero agency. Satellite footage of the UA campus. Two small time villains holding up a convenience store. He must have had access to every camera in the city.

"Ah, Young Midoriya!" The figure in the chair spoke, voice raspy. "I am so pleased to finally meet you."

He sounded it. Pleased. He sounded thrilled that Izuku had come to see him. Izuku edged backwards, pressing his back against the door, even though he knew it wouldn't open.

The man in the chair was completely blind but he still tracked the movement, sightless bald head cocking to the side as Izuku tried to slide away from his attention. A thick, heavy tube ran from an oxygen tank by the chair to his throat and his face was covered in thick, ropey scars.

He smiled. "Have you come to see what your hero has done to me?" All for One asked.

Izuku stared. He swallowed. Licked his lips.

All for one had the same kind of energy as All Might did. Well, no. He had the opposite energy. All Might gave off the strong sense of earnest effort, of charisma and warmth and safety. This man oozed like an oil slick. Threat and power and confidence sitting heavy on the air and the tongue. Izuku swallowed. It was like an aura. Or a telepath that had never learnt to keep the press of their mind within the skull. That nagging little thought that Izuku had put to one side when All Might had shared the story of One for All burst across his mind like starshine. Unignorable.

"No." Izuku said, liking dry lips and ignoring the fact that he hadn't had a choice in coming there at all. "I have come to ask you a question."

"Oh." All for One drawled cocking his head to the side and relaxing into the chair. He knew what Izuku was going to ask. He had to. "And what might that be?"

Izuku swallowed. His eyes were pricking painfully and his throat was so tight that he almost choked on the words. "Your mother or your father?"

"What about them?" All for One asked. He was enjoying this. Drawing it out. He had to know.

Izuku closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see All for One answer. "Your Mother or your Father. Which one was from Gallifrey?"

Beyond Izuku's closed eyelids, All for One began to chuckle, low and deep and absolutely satisfied.

"Well." He said. "They did tell me you were clever."


	31. Chapter 31

**Urgh, guys, you would not believe how sorry I am! The RL decided to become super busy. This chapter is a bit rushed cause I just wanted to get it out so that you were left on something other than a terrible cliff-hanger. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions – although no, sorry to disappoint but neither Izuku nor All for One are related to the Doctor or the Master.**

"And then the Nomu flew up too high for me to reach, but Todoroki was able to force it down by damaging its wings further and I was able to use my feathers to pin it."

Aizawa's eyes itched but he did not look away as the young sidekick explained what had happened to his student's under her watch. Tiredness and guilt had slumped her shoulders and wearied her eyes. The right side of her head was almost bald, patchy and bleeding in places where the girl had pulled her feathers out far beyond when she should have stopped. She was only a few years older than his students.

"It is not your fault." Aizawa said. She flinched and opened her mouth to protest and he held up a hand. "Believe me, if I felt that you had recklessly endangered my students you would be suffering for it. There was no way for you to predict this and you protected them to the best of your ability. Even Todoroki who was not placed in your care."

Hari shook her head. "I should have been better, they shouldn't have been hurt at all."

"No." Aizawa agreed. "But the fault does not lie with you."

Hari sagged back against plastic, hospital chair. Truthfully, Aizawa felt that she belonged in a hospital bed herself. But she had refused.

He shot a glance over at the beds where two of his students lay, sleeping. Todoroki had overused his quirk. The rapid fluctuation of extreme heat and cold had damaged his body, wrinkled, discoloured marks stretching across his arms in uneven blotches. Iida had, perhaps been hurt worse. He had broken ribs and an open wound cutting up his chest and across his neck in a slash that had only just avoided cutting his throat.

The full extent of Midoriya's injuries were unknown. But Hari had described a worrying amount of blood loss and possibly exposure to poison. And that was before the boy had been kidnapped by the League of Villains.

"You should rest." He told Hari. "There is a spare bed, if you will not go home. You are exhausted."

Hari faltered. "I should stay." She said. "I should tell their families what happened. They were under my care."

Aizawa shook his head, putting his hand on her shoulder. "They are my students. I will talk to the families. You have done all you could."

Harri trembled and then nodded, 'thank you' she mouthed, staggering over to the empty bed and collapsing face down on it. Aizawa folded his hands in front of his face, glaring into the middle distance. A few moments passed and then the quiet hospital room was filled with the sounds of soft snoring.

A coffee cup appeared in front of his face and Aizawa took it. All Might sat next to him, gaunt body folding down into the tiny, plastic chair.

"What did the police say?" He asked, sitting back and shoving his hair out of his face.

All Might shook his head. "They have no leads. They do not know where Young Midoriya might be, or even why he was targeted."

"Could be opportunist." Aizawa said. "From what Hari told me they ran into the Hero Killer by dumb bad luck. And the Nomu attack wasn't aimed at them in particular. They were just in the way."

"Hmm." All Might leaned forward, his hands dangling down from his knees as he frowned at the beds. His face was shadowed.

Aizawa cocked his head. There was a commotion coming from outside the room – the high-pitched clamour of nurses attempting to calm someone down. Angry shouting.

He shared a glance with All Might and then readied his capture weapon, poking his head around the door.

"GET OUT OF THE MOTHER FU –"

"Bakugou."

"WAY…Sensei." Bakugou trailed off, deflating like an angry balloon. "Tell these extra's to let us through!" He demanded.

Aizawa frowned. Bakugou was not alone, accompanied by a blonde-haired woman that could only be his mum, a brown-haired man who could only be his dad and…

"Mrs Midoriya!" All Might exclaimed, starting forwards and then faltering.

Mrs Midoriya blinked. "Mr Yagi? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, um." All Might stuttered. "In my position as All Might's secretary I –"

"We weren't expecting you so soon." Aizawa cut in before All Might could bumble his way into giving out confidential information. Though he did note the fact that All Might was apparently familiar with the families.

"We were already on our way." Mrs Bakugou interrupted, shouldering past her husband to fix the two of them with a glare identical to her son's. "Kid here got a text from Izuku, said something was up. Insisted that he had to go to Hosu right away."

She held up a phone, a set of coordinates glowing on the screen. Beside him All Might winced. That matched up with the testimonies from Todoroki and Iida at least.

"What the hell is going on?" Mrs Bakugou snapped, wrapping an arm around Mrs Midoriya and tugging her up front. "My son gets a weird text and then Inko gets a phone call telling her to come to Hosu General Hospital."

"Is Izuku okay?" Mrs Midoriya cut in, glancing around the hospital ward warily. "You – In your call you didn't really…"

She trailed off, staring at him with watery eyes. Somehow, Aizawa got the impression that she knew her son wasn't in the hospital. He bowed, low as he could, regret burning in his chest. They may have been away from school, but they were still his students. Their safety was his responsibility.

"I –" He began.

"Izuku is gone."

Aizawa whipped upright at the voice behind him. Todoroki was awake, standing in frame of the hospital doorway, pale and shaky in his white hospital gown. He slid forward like a ghost, face expressionless as he ducked into a low seiza in front of Mrs Midoriya.

"It was my fault." He continued, not looking up. "I could have saved him, if I'd used my fire sooner. But I didn't."

There was a moment of silence. Mrs Midoriya had clasped her hands across her mouth. Mr Bakugou had his hand on his wife's shoulder, holding her upright.

And then Bakugou decked Todoroki square in the face.

Xxx

"Tell me." All for One said. "How could you possibly have known?"

"No one has quirks like yours." Izuku explained, toes curling in the thick carpet. "I've been thinking on it for a while. What could cause such a mutation. One for All, a power that passes down, changing faces, but remaining the same at its core. That is very Time Lord. And your age, you're hundreds of years old and you haven't aged? Or, not like a human would. What Quirk does that?"

All for One laughed, waving his hand in a go on gesture. Izuku's knees trembled. He hoped he got a chance to sit soon. The blood loss was still affecting him.

"I guess it was lots of little things. You didn't make sense. And the Nomu – that kind of genetic manipulation. That's way too advanced for earth." Izuku shrugged, glancing around the room. There were no windows. No way to escape. "But I didn't know for sure until just now, when I met you. You feel like All Might, like a Time Lord. You project your aura."

Finally giving up on staying standing, Izuku plopped to the floor, crossing his legs. There was no point putting up a front. It's not like he could go anywhere. And All for One hadn't exactly offered a chair.

"You didn't answer my question." Izuku pointed up, craning back to see All for One's face. "Which was it, mum or dad."

"My Mother." All for One said. A tinge of sadness touched upon his aura and was dismissed.

"How did she escape conscription?" Izuku asked.

"She was pregnant with my younger brother at the time." All for One said, turning back to his screens, his chair spinning smoothly around. Izuku noted that, despite the scars, the man still ad someway of seeing. Why else would he have the monitors? "The human DNA shielded her own. By the time my brother was born it was over. She had felt them die."

Izuku flinched. It still burned when he thought of it. A hundred thousand threads snapping in his mind.

"She died not long after my brother was born." All for One said, waving his hand flippantly and not quite able to disguise an age old hurt and betrayal. "She could have regenerated but she chose not to. Said it hurt too much."

Izuku nodded. The room was warm, but he was still shivering. "And then you killed your brother."

"Oh, I didn't mean to kill him." All for One stated, almost conversational in tone. They could have been discussing the weather. "He was being quite…obstructive. I had hoped that his regeneration would be more…cooperative."

"But he didn't regenerate."

"No." All for One's face spasmed. "He didn't."

Gods. Izuku wrapped his arms around his waist, wishing desperately for his sister. For home. Over a hundred years on his own, no family, no TARDIS, none of his own kind. Just alone in his head. No wonder he'd gone insane.

And he was insane. He may put up a good front but Izuku could feel him in his mind. Bitter threads and cracks and tendrils lashing out at all around him, pushing it away and then attempting to drag them close. It was all Izuku could do to keep his own mind safe. To keep his walls firmly raised and locked and barred against the intrusions battering against the walls.

The room was silent but for the hum of machinery and the rasp of All for One's breathing apparatus. If Izuku could get close enough to damage it – but how would that help? He would be no closer to escape. And, of course, that assumed that he would get close enough.

"Tell me about it." All for One said, suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "My mother used to, but she had not been home for many eons. Tell me about the Shining World."

Izuku sighed and relaxed back into the carpeting. All for One hadn't hurt him. For all that the threads of his mind snapped and snarled around them, it didn't seem like All For One _wanted_ to hurt him. A hundred years was a long time to be alone in your head.

"I was born in the city of Arcadia, Gallifrey's second city. We were surrounded by the burnt orange sands of the desert and in the distance the high mountains made a barrier that separated us from the lowlands. It was hot. So hot that the sweat on your back evaporated before it could cool you. Mum took us to the content of Wild Endeavor every Germinal through to Sumor. My youngest sister would pick the red flowers to make crowns and my brother's used to run through the rivers looking for diamonds." Izuku smiled softly, feeling his lips wobble and eyes burn. "It was beautiful."

"Ahhhh," All for One rasped, leaning back in his chair. "Mother said that too. That the trees burnt like a forest fire and the lakes were cooler than the freshest spring."

"– There were fields around the city of golden wheat –"

" – and the suns would rise and the world glistened in scarlets and golds." All for One sighed again, hands twitching against the armrests of his chair. "I never saw it. Not once. Mother showed brother and I her memories. But it was not the same thing."

"No," Izuku shook his head, hard lump in his throat. "It never is." He paused for a moment before asking,

"So, what happens now?" He asked. "I mean, what's you aim? Make everyone hurt because you've been hurt? What are you aiming for?"

The rasp of the respirator continued, breaking into a stuttered wheeze and Izuku realised that All for One was chuckling lowly. The noise hidden in the wires and tubes.

"Domination." He rasped. Hands clutching at the arm rests on his seat. "We are Lords, are we not? Dominion is our right. The humans. The mortals." He spat. "What are they to us. I will destroy this world of heroes and build the world anew."

Izuku took in a deep breath, feeling it travel through his nose and down his throat and through his lungs. He breathed out. He did not shout. He did not need to.

"No." He said.

All for one cocked his head. "No?" He said.

"No." Izuku agreed. "That's not fair. Our world is gone. You can't just steal someone else's"

All for One laughed. "I am a Lord. I can do as I like."

"I won't let you." Izuku said.

All for One laughed again. A hacking, choking wheeze that rattled the tubes and wires around him. "You, a child? With none of your friends and tool and tricks here to help you. You, on the floor before me? What can you possibly do?"

Izuku shrugged. "No idea. I am pretty good at improvising, though."

All for One snorted, waving a hand in his direction. "Get out. Kurogiri will show you to your room. I am done with you for now. I'll call for you again when you've had time to rethink you stance. We are, after all, the last."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

 **Guess who found a spar couple of hours and is now heading to bed so that I actually wake up for work tomorrow? Apologies for the numerous scene cuts – there's a bunch of storylines happening between different people and it all needed to come together by the end of the chapter. Not super psyched by my Shigaraki characterisation in this one but eh. he would not do as he was told.**

There was someone in his office. Again.

He could hear them breathing. Hear the soft rustle of papers as they flicked through something on his desk. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob, easing the door open.

"You!" Endeavor snarled, doorknob crumbling with an ominous crunch beneath his fist as he stormed into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

The Vigilante stood by his desk and riffling through his papers cocked her masked face at him as though he were the one invading _her_ space. Endeavor snarled again, flames billowing around him.

The Vigilante relaxed back against the desk, propping her hip against it and tapping the pocket of her pirate coat where, no doubt, another of those damned folders sat.

"What do you want," Endeavor asked, stomping over and looming over the slight woman. If he hadn't been sure she'd dodge or use another of those cursed forcefields she used last time he'd have tried to rip the mask off her face. "Blackmail only works so many times. You already have my wife. My children. What more could you want?"

The vigilante chuckled, tilting her porcelain face back and looking at him with dark eyes. "It isn't about what I want." She said. Dark blue ringlets sliding over her shoulder with a barely audible rustle. "It's about what you want. And I don't have blackmail. I have an offer."

Endeavor relaxed, fingers unclenching, flame simmering back to its usual hum. "Finally thought better of challenging the number two hero, huh?" He took a step backwards, ready to accept her apology. "Give me back my son and I can let this one slide as long as I never see you again."

This time she didn't chuckle. She tossed he head back and laughed like a bell. "Just your son?" She clarified. "Not your daughter or wife?" She shook her head. "No, that's not what I'm here for."

Endeavor growled lowly. "Well if you're just going to waste my time –"

"—You despise All Might do you not?"

Endeavor frowned anger automatically flashing in his mind at the thought of his biggest rival.

"Well," The Vigilante continued, sliding up to perch on his desk and tap her heel gently against the wooden leg. "How would you like to get one over on him once and for all?"

"How." Endeavor choked out over the swell of victory rising in his chest. The Vigilante seemed smug behind her mask. He didn't care. "How!"

The Vigilante tilted her head to the side. "All Might has a nemesis. Never been able to defeat him…I know where he is."

Slowly, Endeavor began to smile.

Xxx

"—I saw the looms once, when I was a child and my sister was being stitched into creation. They were glistening golden and humming with power and in the middle of each a dewdrop of crystal gestated the little ones. My eldest sister wanted to work there. Once she was old enough. Blending genomes. Monitoring the incubators."

"Enough," All for One cut in, slicing his hand through the air and the conversation. His other hand fiddled with Izuku's sonic pen, turning it over and over between thick fingers.

It was Izuku's third – no fourth day in All for One's hospitality and this was the first time the older Gallifreyan had let him so much as catch a glimpse of his own things. Now, the table beside All for One was littered with Izuku's possessions. His coat, his trousers, his gadgets, his boots. The psychic notebook was tossed carelessly beside it. And, the pen, as mentioned, was in All for One's hands.

All for One tossed it onto the table with a clatter, turning to give the impression that he was looking straight at Izuku, tendril of his mind lashing out like thorns. Izuku flinched.

"Enough about the weather and the babies and the science and the grass." All for One folded his hands together in front of his chin. The air took on a supercharged tension, the scent of ozone crackling between them. "Tell me about the Dalek. Tell me about the end."

Izuku faltered breath catching in his throat and hearts stuttering in his chest. There was screaming behind his eyelids. Fire in his mind.

"I – I can't."

"Of course, you can." All for One chided like he was correcting a child. "I want you to."

Izuku swallowed, eyes fluttering closed.

"I was in school." He said. "So were my siblings. But I was the youngest except for my sister who was too young to go anyway. My older brothers were at the academy on the other side of the citadel. My Dad was at home. My Mother at work. We knew there was a war going on, refugees came through every day. We knew…but nothing had ever got through the sky trenches before. We thought we were safe."

"Go on," All for One leant forward, looming over Izuku who was sat cross-legged on the floor again, at the base of All for One's throne.

"My sister came and got me. The teacher died. I was under the rubble and –" He coughed, running a finger between the tight collar of the white pyjama's he'd been dressed in. It was too tight. He coughed again. "The other children were screaming, and the teacher was trying to save them, and they didn't even care." Izuku blinked and swallowed again. His mouth was too dry. His eyes were too damp. He stared off into the middle-distance. The recent-past. "They weren't happy or proud or joyful. They killed everyone and they didn't even care. They didn't –"

"Sensei!" The Hand villain burst into the room, face unmasked, pale and surprisingly young as he flung the door open like a teenager whining for a favoured parent's attention.

"GET OUT!" All for One roared, leaping to his feet with an anger that snapled and cracked in the air around him with a physical force. Izuku pressed himself down against the floor, cringing beneath the pressure of All for One's thoughts.

"I – Sensei…" Hand-Villain stuttered, folding inwards and bringing up his hand to scratch, scratch, scratch at his neck.

All for One's sudden jump had nudged the table. The pen rolled and dropped to the floor. Izuku held his breath.

The anger vanished as quickly as it had come. All for One moved forwards, reaching out his hand.

"Apologies, Tomura." He said. "It has been a stressful week. I did not intend to take my anger out on you. You know how important to me you are."

"Didn't feel like it." 'Tomura' griped, wrapping his arm around his waist and picking at his neck. He shot Izuku a truly venomous look. Izuku froze where he had been inching across the carpet towards his pen.

"Oh, Tomura." All for One sighed, his aura softening into a gentle artifice. "This boy means nothing to me past the information that he can provide. He will be gone soon enough, and we will see all our plans come to fruition."

"Promise?" Tomura asked, peering up at All for One beneath his fringe like a child. Izuku winced. It was painful to watch. How tightly All for One had wrapped himself around this boy and made himself and his ideals the centre of his world.

"You."

Izuku froze as the weight of All for One's attention fell upon him, pressing his arm tight against his stomach.

"Get out of here. I have no further use of you."

A now familiar black tar seeped across the floor beneath Izuku, swallowing him whole and depositing him back in the small room that they had been keeping him in. Only when the last drop of darkness had disappeared, and he was sure he was alone, did Izuku relax his arm. And smile at the pen he had hidden there.

Xxx

Inko hadn't come back.

Not that he'd expected her to. Why would she come back? He might be staying in her house, but it's not like he was anything to her. Not family, not blood and after what he'd let happen to her son, probably not even friends.

Still.

Todoroki stared down at the blanket on his lap, picking one-handed at the cotton. Around Iida's bed, Uraraka and Tsuyu were doing their best to cheer him up, but the other boy was still blaming himself. Like he had anything to blame himself for.

Todoroki was the one who had let Izuku go.

He had been the one too proud to –

"Tell me again what happened," Bakugou barked! Pacing near the window and shooting Todoroki the odd glare in between yanking at his hair and randomly cursing the sky blue. "Exactly what happened."

"I got a text and –"

"Todoroki and myself, have already informed you of the events of the alley five times." Iida broke in, turning in his bed to give Bakugou his undivided attention – without twisting his ribs further. "Will another repetition really help that much?"

Bakugou grimaced, opening his mouth for another tirade when Uraraka jumped in.

"Yeah," She said. "The teacher's will find him soon anyway, he'll probably be in the bed beside you before the week is out."

Bakugou turned his snarl on Uraraka. And then something very strange happened. His breath stuttered, red eyes going wide fingers twitching in sudden shock.

"The teachers are looking for him?"

"Yep." Uraraka chirped, "We overheard Aizawa-Sensei discussing plans with this tall blonde man on our way in. They're going to send out a rescue party."

Bakugou twitched. "And…then they will bring him here."

He spoke slowly, feeling out each word before they left his mouth. Todoki shot a bewildered glance at the others, noticing that he wasn't the only one looking confused.

Tsuyu tilted her head to the side, "Where else would they take him, kero?"

"Right." Bakugou blinked rapidly, thunderstruck frown narrowing into place above his eyes. "I have to go." He said, walking from the room. He had barely left the door before they heard his footsteps breaking into a sprint.

Todoroki shared another baffled look with the other members of the room.

That had been…odd.

Xxx

Shit. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, Shit!_

The steps pounded beneath Katsuki's feet as he sprinted up them towards Auntie Inko's apartment. He wasn't fully aware of how he'd got from here to the hospital. Just of running. He thought he might have used his quirk at one point to catch a walk signal, but it was hazy.

"Auntie Inko!" He yelled, bursting through the front door of the apartment and nearly tripping over a pile of books. "Auntie Inko!"

There was no one there. The apartment was empty.

"Shit." Katsuki declared, looking around the empty hall before stumbling towards the door that Izuku had taken him through all those years ago. Auntie Inko had alarms on it or something. That's what she'd said last time. Who cared if she drugged him again and succeeded this time? They were gonna take Deku to the hospital. They were gonna save him from the villain and take him to the hospital where some white-coat wearing, shady, government agency could disappear him into one of their labs and never let him out again.

"Please work, please work." He muttered to himself, stumbling towards the door and pressing against it with both palms. The door swung open with a soft click and Katsuki staggered inside, so relieved that it didn't even occur to him that that might be too easy.

The ship was exactly how he remembered it. Soft purples and yellows, like a sunrise. A burnished gold console connecting to the power source – a glass tube glowing faintly mauve and casting light across the central room. He pressed his hands against the metal, relaxing into the soft humming of machinery.

Behind him the door clicked open again.

"Thank god," Katsuki exhaled. "I didn't know how long it would take you to get here."

There was a slightly stunned pause – No doubt Auntie coming to terms with the fact that Katsuki knew, and then:

"What the heck?"

That wasn't Auntie.

Katsuki spun around and felt his heart drop. The four idiots from the hospital were gawking around the room. Four-Eyes and Candy-Cane were still in their hospital gowns, Urarara was windswept and sweaty and slightly green in a way that meant she'd over-used her quirk and Froggy was at the front, mouth ajar and obviously the one who had spoken.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Katsuki demanded.

"You were behaving suspiciously in the hospital." Four-Eyes answered, his usual choppy zeal lost somewhere in the fascination of the ship. "I am certain the exterior of the building is not large enough to contain a room of this size."

"This isn't Mrs Midoriya's room…" Candy-Cane trailed off, wide eyed.

"Yeah, no shit." Katsuki snapped, grabbing Froggy by the arm and dragging her away from the circles she was peering at and ushering the lot of them back towards the door. "You need to get out. Now!"

"Yeah but –"

"—You can't just –"

"—let me go."

Katsuki ignored the squirming, pushing them towards doors that swung closed before he could reach them.

"Okay. Not funny." He snapped.

"That wasn't any of us." Uraraka objected just as a wheezing groan echoed around the room. Katsuki spun back to the console. The power supply at the centre was pulsing, rhythmic beat that got faster and faster. A switch on the console swung itself open, and a set of dials clicked themselves into a ready position.

"What is happening?" Glasses asked, tugging at the door which refused to budge.

"Well, shit."

Xxx

It was taking all that Izuku had to restrain the urge to cackle maniacally as he watched the orange, yellow and red of his sonic crystal pulse in its cradle on the pen.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the TARDIS honing-in on his signal. Could almost hear her loving wheeze as she materialised around him. In just a few more seconds he would be home and dry and getting the lecture of his lives from his sister.

In just a few more seconds.

The door slammed open and Izuku whirled, hand thrown automatically behind his back to hide the pen.

"Oh," He said. "It's you."

"Oh, it's you," Tomura mimicked in a high-pitched voice before shooting a dark eyed glare at Izuku. "Don't 'oh it's you' like you think you're so much better than me."

"I don't –"

"Sensei being interested in you doesn't mean anything you know, he's interested in a lot of people when they're useful. It doesn't mean anything."

"I didn't think it d –"

"He'll get bored of you soon enough, and then I'll get to decide what happens to you, so you should be more respectful, brat."

"Okay," Izuku sighed. "Is that everything because –"

"What's that?"

Izuku froze. Tomura's eyes were pinned to his side where a faint orange glow was seeping through the thin cotton of is pyjamas.

"It's nothing!" Izuku yelped as Tomura wrapped four fingers around his wrist and tugged it free.

"What is this?" Tomura snapped, holding the pen up to his eyes and ignoring Izuku's squirming as his wrist was twisted around. "Is this a beacon? Are you being tracked right now? How the fuck did Kurogiri not notice that you had a fucking beacon?"

As he spoke, he brought his other hand up and Izuku knew what was going to happen a second before it actually did.

"No!" He yelped, as Tomura brought his fifth finger down and the sonic pen crumbled into dust.

Izuku stared at the floor where flecks of ash were still swirling to settle. He'd had that pen for years. It was his first successful attempt of replicating Time Lord technology. He took it everywhere.

"Sensei," Tomura began, unholy glee lighting up behind his eyes. "Is going to be sooo mad at you."

And then he was pulling Izuku from the room.

Xxx

"Is it over?" Uraraka whimpered, arms wrapped around her head and face nauseous. Katuki didn't see what she had to complain about. Froggy had wrapped herself around her and stuck to the floor. Uraraka had barely been jostled. The rest of them on the other hand…

Well, it was nothing like the smooth landing of Izuku materialising them on a desert planet.

"What happened?" Glasses groaned, picking himself up from the floor and cradling his ribs. Katsuki made a note to make sure the unnaturally tall boy iced them later, before lunging for the door.

Candy-Cane got there first.

"We've moved?" He said. Staring out in surprise. "How can we have possibly moved?"

"Who gives a crap," Katsuk said, shoving him out of the way and peering out into the street, blinking against the bright daylight that bit into his eyes. He shook his head impatiently, half expecting Deku's dumb face to be right in front of him once he blinked away the dark spots. "Only Deku can call the ship. Where is he?"

"He isn't here." Candy-Cane said. "It's just a normal street."

"What is going on?" Uraraka demanded, peeling herself off the floor. "How have we moved, what is this thing? What does it have to do with Deku?"

"Nothing." Katsuki said numbly, letting his hand drop from the door handle. Deku wasn't here. The burning in his eyes was the sun. Nothing more. "It's just a normal street. Deku isn't here."

"Well," Tsuyu said, ducking around Candy-Cane and peering out, dark hair spooling along the ground by Katsuki's shoes. "He can't be that far away."

"What makes you say that?" Glasses asked, finally joining them at the door and gaping at the fact hat they had, in fact, moved.

"Well." Tsuyu said, pointing down the street. "Endeavor is about to blow that door off."


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey guys! Sorry that it's been so long** . **Hopefully I should be able to get the next chapter out sooner as, hey, I'm not going anywhere or seeing anyone but who knows. Confession time: I'm not at all happy with this chapter but I've reworked it a bunch of times and this is the best version, so I hope you enjoy.**

"Let, go of me! Let go!" Izuku shouted, struggling against the grip on his arm.

"Oh no," Tomura grinned, dragging him a couple of steps further down the corridor. "You aren't going anywhere, little hero. We're going to see Sensei and then he's going to –"

Tomura cut off with a wheeze as Izuku managed to elbow him in the gut, slipping out of his grip and sprinting away.

"Oh no you don't! he snarled and Izuku felt a yank on the collar of his shirt and then the terrifying crumble as it started to disintegrate. He eeled out of it, momentarily blinded and left it abandoned no the floor, ignoring the black anger he could feel behind him. For a moment the anger turned triumphant, this was all the warning that Izuku got. And then an arm closed around his neck.

"Get off!" Izuku hollered, kicking out. "Get off me!"

"Ah, ah, ah" A voice hissed in his ear in mock comfort. The arm around his neck twisted, choking him, and out of the corner of his eye Izuku caught sight of a pale hand. "Careful there, little hero. I'd hate for you to lose anything."

Izuku went limp and let himself be dragged backwards, eyes darting around the corridor. It was empty and useless. They didn't even pass a door that might let him orient himself. It was just the same dark stretch of metal, on and on and on.

They stopped outside a door and Izuku felt himself be twisted around into a proper headlock before Tomura flung the door open.

"Sensei, Sensei!" Tomura crowed, dragging Izuku into the room. Izuku hissed in pain as his elbow bashed against the doorframe. "Look who I found trying to escape."

"Oh?" The chair in the centre of the room turned and then All for One's attention was on them. Izuku flinched as the oil miasma of it brushed against his mind, trying not to gag at the feeling. "and why would he want to go and do a silly thing like that."

Four fingers on his back and then Izuku was shoved, hard. He sprawled on the carpet at All for One's feet for a second. Winded. And then he scrambled to his knees. His hearts were going too fast. He could feel them thump-thump-thumping in his chest so loud he thought that the whole room could hear.

"I dunno," Tomura said scratching idly at his neck. "But I caught him. He had this button thing, like a tracker that he'd activated."

"A tracker." All for One went very still. "You said that he activated this?"

"Uh huh."

The dark aura roiled around him, livid and furious and deadly and Izuku gasped for breath like it was a physical force, hands scrabbling uselessly at his neck for a pressure that slid off his skin, intangible as smoke.

"What," All for One hissed out, "did you do."

"Nothing." Izuku choked out.

"Who did you contact?"

" _No one_!"

Tomura was laughing behind him and All for One was looming above him, anger and disappointment and below it all a crushing indifference sharpened to a knife that he was using to drill down against Izuku's mind. And Izuku threw up another wall and it crumbled instantly, and he gasped, longing for the bright warmth of his mum and _don't think about that!_

All for One paused, head tilting to one side as though he had caught the thought and then, thankfully, they were interrupted.

"Sensei," Kurogiri said respectfully, appearing in the room in a swirl of darkness. "I apologise for the interruption however the hero, Endeavour is attacking."

There was a brief, incredulous pause and Izuku blinked, his battered mind trying to make sense of the sentence and coming up short. _Endeavour?_

"…Endeavour?" All for One, asked a note of complete, genuine bafflement in his voice. "You contacted Endeavour?"

"No," Izuku said in exactly the same tone, blinking up at the ceiling and wondering when exactly things had stopped making sense. He felt like a grape that was being turned into wine. Squished and bruised. "I have no idea what he's doing here."

"Okay." Incredibly, All for One seemed to believe him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Or where the bridge of his nose should have been. "We will have to abandon this site. Kurogiri, release the Nomu, we can always make more. You will then take Tomura to safety. I will deal with the … Heroes."

"But – Sensei!" Tomura whined, "You should –"

"It is alright, Tomura," All for One said, reaching out one large hand to caress the side of Tomura's face. "After all, all of this is for you. I will be fine, and I will meet you at…" His attention flicked lightning fast across Izuku. "The rendezvous point."

Tomura shivered as All for One let go, swaying forwards to keep the hands on his skin for as long as possible. "Okay, Sensei."

"Good," All for One smiled sharply. "I just need to take care of _him_."

His attention flickered across Izuku and Izuku swallowed, eyes desperately flitting around the room for anything that could help him. The table with his things was still sitting there. His belt just discarded there, next to his coat. All for One was distracted, watching Tomura disappear into a portal of swirling black. He wasn't looking.

Izuku lunged.

Xxx

"I – we – I. This is impossible!" Glasses exclaimed for the 6trillianth time. "We have moved. How have we moved? How is this possible?"

Katsuki grunted, not taking his eyes off Endeavour. The hero was battering at the door, but nothing was happening. Great gouts of flame that weren't doing a damn thing. If they hadn't already figured that there was something shady about the building that definitely would have tipped them off. No way would normal fireproofing be enough to stop Endeavour's quirk.

"That's my Dad," Candy-cane said blankly. "Why is my father here?"

"I am not sure that your father is the important issue here," Glasses said, chopping his arms. "We have moved!"

"I mean, isn't it obvious?" Round Face said, stupid round face illuminated purple in the glow. "It's a spaceship, right?"

Katsuki froze. "No, it isn't."

Round face laughed, her eyes were round as her face and looking round the room in wonder. "Yes, it is. Look at it. And we teleported!"

"What would Deku be doing with a spaceship, kero?"

"Nothing," Katsuki snarled. "He's not doing anything with a Spaceship because it's not a Sapacehip."

Froggy blinked slowly. "You said only Deku could call the ship earlier. So, it's a spaceship."

"It is not a fucking _space_ –"

"The Quirk…" Glasses breathed. Katsuki paused. He wasn't sure what glasses was talking about, but it probably wasn't good. "Izuku's quirk."

"What about it?" Candy-cane asked, once again failing to read Katsuki's epic glare. "Analysis, right?"

"It's wrong." Glasses continued. "We talked about it during the internship. Some of the things that he has survived are past the capabilities of the human body. He said it was luck but…"

"It was luck. Shitty Deku has great luck." Katsuki snarled turning away from the door. Deku was always the talker. Katsuki didn't know how to fix this. His palms itched and he clenched his hands into fists. "So, shut up and about crap you know nothing about."

They were all staring at him. All of them. Wide eyed and wondering. He couldn't get them to stop.

"Whatever this is," Candy-cane mused slowly. "You know about it."

"I don't know – " Katsuki was cut off as shockwave of pressure exploded from the building behind him.

He yelped as he hit the floor, the ship rocking in distress. Dimly he saw Round Face grab at Froggy to stop her from falling over. Candy-Cane looked like he was trying to say something but there was a ringing in Katsuki's ears, and he couldn't hear past it. He staggered to his feet, grabbing the doorframe in support and looked out.

The front of the building had exploded. Rubble littered the street and from the gaping chasm monsters were crawling from the building. Disgusting, misshapen things, with mottled skin and exposed brains and grasping hands. One of them managed to grab Endeavour by the arm, pawing at his costume with spiked fingers and Endeavour let out a roar of pain, immolating the creature in a wail of fire. But more were coming up behind it, pouring like ants out of the building.

By now Endeavour had clearly attracted attention and other heroes were flocking to the scene. Katsuki caught sight of Kamui Woods appearing on the next building over, and there was the Blue and red of Mr Brave's costume entering the street. Katsuki frowned, looking at the building. It looked like the stream of Nomu were dying down, most of them were out and preoccupied with fighting the heroes. That meant…there was an opening.

"Right," Katsuki muttered to himself, eyes lazering in on the path he'd need to take. They were near enough. It wasn't far.

He took off.

Twin cries of "Oh, come on!" and "Not again, Kero!" came from the girls behind him, but Katsuki was already gone.

Xxx

Izuku groaned, trying to gather the strength the roll onto his side. The table had splintered beneath his weight when All for One slammed him down onto it and the shards of wood were digging painfully into his unprotected back. His left hand scrabbled among the ruins for something useful, his batons, or a chem-stick. All For One caught the movement and lifted him up, a dizzying moment of weightlessness before All for One slammed him back down into the rubble. Izuku coughed as the air was forced out of his lungs and lay still for a moment, dazed.

Above him All for One raised a hand, a large black spike forming in the palm.

"Ah, child," All for One said, sorrowfully, "I do wish that you hadn't made me do this. We could have been wonderful."

"No," Izuku spat, eyes burning. "We couldn't."

The hand descended. A crack and flash of red severed the spike from All for Ones hand where it dissolved into shadow.

"Oh, Izuku," All for One breathed, not moving an inch. "You didn't say you had a … sister?"

Izuku scrambled backwards, breath panting desperately through him and hearts racing. Inko was stood in the doorway in her vigilante outfit, whip in hand. She too was frozen in place and behind the blank porcelain of her mask her shock was palpable.

"You're…" She stammered, taking a staggering step forward.

All for One smiled without moving his lips. "Yes," he agreed not looking away from Izuku. "I am a Time Lord. As are you."

"I didn't," Inko stuttered. "I didn't think that there was anyone else left."

All for One was distracted, the sweltering pressure of his mind peeled away from Izuku's and Izuku frowned. He'd been alone without family for a long, long time. There was a chance he wouldn't notice. Carefully, very carefully, Izuku feel for the bright, burning glow between them, feeding his memories of the past few days into it.

Inko faltered for a second before firming in resolve, sending affection and reassurance straight back through the link. Izuku relaxed, going boneless against the floor and looking up at All for One between lidded eyes. He hadn't noticed. He hadn't even looked.

"Well, now," All for One said, finally, finally turning away from Izuku "Perhaps you would be more willing to see reason."

"See reason about what?" Inko asked, stepping closer. There was a plan ticking away in the space between them. Izuku wasn't sure who had first had the idea, but it was there. Waiting. He shifted, placing a hand flat on the floor and getting ready to move.

"We are the last," All for One said. Holding out a hand towards her. "surely you can see that we should be working together."

Slowly, hesitantly Inko raised her hand towards him. The air around All for One turned smug.

 _Now!_

Izuku lunged, wood cracking beneath him as he darted upwards, arm outstretched. All for One stepped back, carelessly, negligently away from Izuku's reach.

And directly into Inko's.


End file.
